What in the World is a Rift?
by RedIs4Janto
Summary: There has been no Rift or alien activity in Cardiff and Torchwood is going mad with boredom. What will happen when they meet a flock of genetically mutated kids? Major Jack/Ianto, Slash, AU later, One-sided, or possible two, Toshiko/Owen, Maybe Fang/Max
1. Is that Superman?

_**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Torchwood, or Maximum Ride. Those rights go to Russell T. Davies and James Patterson respectively. *sigh* sometimes, I wish I could though. _

_**Spoilers:** None, actually, as far as I can tell. Let me know if you see otherwise._

_So basically, I'm have an encounter of Torchwood with the Flock. It's all set after "Dead Man Walking" and before "Fragments". There is Janto(Jack/Ianto), Owen is back from the dead, and Jack is, well, Jack. Oh yeah, and the flock is yet to be discovered by the world. So not very well known. Straight from the "School", you might say, but Angel has her powers. Mind-reading and whatnot. Please read, and I hope you enjoy. I'll try to stay as true to the characters as possible._

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

Jack sauntered out of his office and over to Tosh's work place. "So Tosh, what've you got?" he asked casually.

"Nothing, actually, which is really surprising. The rift hasn't been active for days now. That's really strange." said Tosh as she looked at the steady spikes on one of her monitors. "And there have been no reports of any alien activity in or around Cardiff."

Jack whined like a child.

"But I'm so bored."

"Well go read a book or something" replied Tosh. "Just leave me alone. I need to finish cataloging the tech we got from when we busted that illegal alien arms dealership."

"I've got an idea on what he could do." said a smarmy voice behind them. Jack turned around to see Owen standing by the door of the medical bay. "If you're so bored, why don't you go and shag teaboy down in the archives?"

"I've tried that, but for some reason he keeps pushing me away today. Says he needs to get his 'work' done."

Gwen walked in as Jack was speaking. "Maybe its because that's ALL you've been doing this past week. Honestly, every time I come into your office, I always interrupt you and Ianto. Ever heard of a sock on the door?"

"But that would take too long" Jack laughed as he said this, his eyes crinkling at the corners. Then he sighed. "Oh well, if anyone needs me, I'll be down in the archives trying to get Ianto to see my way."

"Fine" replied Tosh. "But after you're done with him, bring him back up here and get him to make us some coffee. You've been keeping him to yourself this week and he hasn't made a bloody cup."

"Will do," said Jack as he smiled and strolled down the stairs, his coattails swishing behind him.

Gwen looked at him go. "Look, I know they're cute together, but I'm starting to feel sorry for Ianto. Tosh, we need some sort of distraction for Jack."  
>"I KNOW!" Tosh almost yelled. "I'm trying, but I can't just make the rift work and spit something out."<p>

"Ok, Tosh, but you really need to try harder." said Owen. He shuddered as he said his next sentence. "It's my turn to look over all the CCTV cams at the end of every day, and I don't think I can stand anymore videos of them shagging. I get my kicks from it as much as the next guy, but it's getting old."

Tosh just growled at the both of them. Couldn't they see she wanted alien activity as much as they did. She was sleep and coffee deprived and needed some action. Instead of saying anything to them, she simply turned away and began furiously looking through the reports to see if she had missed anything. About twenty minutes later, she spotted a blinking out of the corner of her eye and turned to one of her Cardiff activity monitors. She clicked on the red dot, read the report, then grabbed her bluetooth. "Jack, Gwen, Owen, Ianto, you had better come up here and see this."

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Max and the whole flock were flying through the clear night skies over Cardiff, looking for a nice place to rest. She had promised to take the kids sight seeing in London, but they needed to rest, since they had been flying over half the Atlantic Ocean.

"Come on" she said when she saw a rather branchy tree, perfect for hiding and sleeping in."Let's get down to that tree."

As they collapsed from exhaustion on the branches, even Nudge, who was usually so talkative, didn't say a word.

Gazzy was instantly snoring next to Iggy, and they both lay limply like rags. Max should have been worried about them falling out, but she knew they would be ok. They had been so many other times.

Angel tiredly came down on the tree branch next to Max and settled down in her lap. Max just stroked her soft blonde curls and smoothed her ruffled feathers. She, Angel, looked the most innocent of them all, she was so young. "Don't worry Max," the small girl murmured sleepily as she drifted off. "I can take care of myself." But then, Max remembered with a smile, Angel was also the most devilish, with her reading of others peoples and influencing them.

As she began to close her eyes, Max noticed someone was missing. "Fang?" she called out softly into the darkness.

"I'm keeping watch down here." replied a cool voice.

Max looked down and saw Fang, standing against the tree, his wings tucked behind him and his arms folded across his chest. "You get some sleep. I'll wake you when it's time for your watch."

One could never be too careful when there were Erasers around. There always needed to be someone looking out when the flock was sleeping, and Max was suddenly grateful.

"Thanks Fang, but remember, 4 hours ONLY. We need you tomorrow in case there is any fighting." said Max.

"Of course." Max couldn't see in the dark, but she could tell Fang was giving her one of his rare smiles. Then, Max began to drift off to sleep.

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Jack was just getting Ianto's shirt off after 15 minutes of persuasion when Tosh called him on her bluetooth. "You might want to come and see this," was all she had said.

Jack felt torn. On one hand, he really wanted to go out there and take out whatever had alerted Torchwood. On the other, what him and Ianto had going right then was turning out to be promising, but he didn't have time to make that decision. Apparently, Toshiko had called everyone on their Bluetooths and Ianto was dressed before Jack turned back to him.

"We really should go up there, sir." The Welshman spoke in a soft voice. "You've been going on all week about how you weren't getting any action, and here's your chance."

Jack pouted. "But I like what we were getting started here. THAT was action in my book." He tried to slip Ianto's coat off of him, but Ianto gently, but firmly, resisted.

"I'll be here when you get back."

"What are you talking about, 'be here'?" replied Jack laughingly. "You heard Tosh, she wanted all of us up there. You included."

Ianto just smiled as Jack pulled him into the main Hub. He really loved that man.

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Tosh was already beginning to explain the situation to Owen and Gwen as both Ianto and Jack rushed up the stairs, breathless and red in the face.

"Took you long enough to get up here." jibed Owen. "Been having a little fun have we?"

Jack smiled and replied "Why yes, yes we have." Ianto said nothing. He just flushed a little more and turned his attention to the screen Tosh was pointing at. After all this time, he still hadn't gotten used to the idea of the team knowing about him and Jack's relationship, especially since Owen always felt the need to bother him about it.

Tosh looked cross at being interrupted but continued with what she had been saying."So, basically, what the witness told the police was that a bunch of human sized creatured flew over his head. He said he couldn't get an exact number, but that it was at least 5 or 6. The witness wasn't drunk at all or anything, in fact we've been getting several reports, and from the look of it, the creatures seemed to be following some sort of trail. Now, there's been no recent Rift activity so that means whatever it is, its been on this side for a while. Whatever it is, it has adapted to this world and managed not to be seen. That means its got some sort of intelligence. We may be dealing with something like Mywfawny or something completely alien. Either way, whatever caused it to come out of hiding may have made it angry, or scared. Ianto, you're coming with us because we don't know how many there are and we might need backup."

"Of course, Tosh." replied the Welshman. The rest of the team nodded to show that they understood and so they all walked out of the Hub, each secretly excited to be able to get some action once again.

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Max was woken up by a quiet shake from Fang. He gave her the signal that meant someone was coming. She looked up into the night sky and sighed. It was cloudless and the moon was shining brightly. They might attract a lot of attention if they decided to go up and away, and she didn't want to chance fighting someone who had guns.

She heard the quiet whispers as Fang silently woke up each member of the group. Both Gazzy and Iggy yawned loudly, but were instantly silenced by Fang's quiet shush. Angel was already crouched on the branch, ready to fly off, with Nudge beside her. I shook my head NO, and Angel nodded as she read my thoughts. We sat quietly perched in the tree for a few minutes, waiting to see if they would pass us, but as the voices got closer, I realized that wasn't going to happen.

A small Asian woman with a rather large gun began approaching the tree. "The last witness said he saw them fly into this clump of trees and never come out."  
><em>Crap,<em> thought Max. _I should have realized people would have seen us early tonight, since it was just as cloudless. But all I was focused on was getting my flock to safety._

Then the Asian woman said something that caused Max to mentally slap herself on the forehead. "I found the center of the forest. It's got a rather large tree in it and I think that's where they are hiding." She listened for a few more moments on her headpiece then nodded and slowly pointed her gun up at the tree.

Max realized that they couldn't fly out of this one. She couldn't risk one of her flock members being hurt as they flew through the air. They'd be perfect targets. Instead she motioned for them to climb down the side of the tree that was opposite the lady with the gun. As Angel, the last person to climb down, leaped off the lowest branch. Max heard a stick behind her a whirled around. A man in a World War Two overcoat stood with his gun trained on her, and a pleasant smile on his face. When he saw that they were kids, he frowned and lowered his gun. "Tosh," he called to presumably the lady on the other side of the tree, "all we've got here is a couple of kids." Soon, more people began to emerge from the bushes, two men and a woman with black hair, all holding guns. They relaxed when they saw what the man in the coat had said was right, they relaxed and lowered their guns. Max saw this as an opportunity to run and gave the single motion. Before anyone from Torchwood could react, the flock was up in the air.

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Jack stared at them in wonderment for a few seconds before he turned and began running. "What are you doing sir?" shouted Ianto after Jack.

"SUV" he called. "Whatever those things are, we've got to get them. They're not kids and they are certainly not human!"

Regaining their senses, the team began to sprint after Jack.

In the SUV, with Jack driving and shouting instructions to Tosh to not lose them, all of the team members never felt more alive.

Jack called to Owen. "Do you have the long distance, wide range stun gun?"

Ianto spoke. "It should be with the other guns. I just put it there last week."

Jack looked like he wanted to kiss Ianto, and then he said to Owen. "You're the best shot in Torchwood, try taking down one of those bird people."

Owen grabbed the already assembled and loaded gun, thanks to Ianto, and climbed onto the roof of the SUV. He aimed for the lowest target he could see. He was finding it hard to aim. The SUV kept bouncing up and down, and those bird kids were fast, but eventually, he took the shot. The bird shape began spiraling out of the sky and Owen climbed back into the car, pointing at where it had been falling.

They rushed to the scene, hoping to get there before the bird kids did, and they were in luck. There lay the sprawled shape of a tall, thin and pale teenage boy, his wings spread out. He began to groan and stir from his knocked out condition. Before he could fully come to, Owen administered some tranquilizer to him. Then, they gently picked up the "alien" and carried him to the back of the SUV. Gwen looked at his young face, and despite what Jack had said, she didn't believe they were bloodthirsty aliens, just scared, scared children.

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We had been flying for a few minutes before Max heard Angel screaming. "I can't hear his mind! Iggy where are you?"

Max spun and to my horror, there was no Iggy. A quick count told her everyone but Iggy was accounted for. Max looked down and saw the mysterious team that had cornered us earlier grabbing Iggy and putting him into the SUV. She tried to dive down there, but Fang grabbed her. "There's nothing we can do for him now. We need to hide, or else another one of us will get shot down. They've got guns, Max. The best thing we can do is follow them and rescue Iggy without getting caught ourselves."

"Fang is right" chimed in Angel. "It's better for Iggy if we follow them to their base and make a plan to rescue him."

The rest of the flock, though shaken, nodded in agreement with Angel's statement, and so we covertly followed the SUV, hoping not to be noticed.

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><p><em>Pretty rough meeting for Torchwood and the flock. Oh, and in case you hadn't guessed, the tall, pale skinny bird was Iggy. So now that Torchwood has Iggy, what are they going to do with him?What are the Flock going to do about their missing team member? Read and review with love please. :)<em>


	2. Meet the Flock

_The Flock is gonna try and get Iggy back. What is Torchwood gonna do to him? No spoilers._

**_Disclaimer_**_: I do not own anything created by Russell T. Davies or BBC or James Patterson_

**_Spoilers:_**_ Once again, doesn't seem to be any. Hopefully, I'm right._

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

Gwen stared at the pale boy. He looked young, 15 maybe 16, but the lines on his face made him seem much older. In that aspect, he looked like many of the members on Torchwood. Like he had seen to many things at his age. Like he was older than he looked.

One of the first things Owen had done when they got back to the Hub, was take a blood sample from the boy. He'd been unconscious so it didn't hurt him and now Owen had been intently studying the DNA for the past hour.

They had all heard his babbling when he looked at their DNA. Human, he had said, for the most part. The genes were 98% human, and there were not traces of alien in his system. As far as Owen could tell, phsyically , he was no alien. On the other, it was the 2% of the DNA that didn't match. It wasn't alien, but it definitely wasn't human. Owen had taken a wild guess, from the wings on the kid's back, that 2% was avian, or bird.

Now Gwen looked at the boy in wonder. He was a miracle, like nothing she had ever seen. Sure, there had been aliens, but this was new. This was human. This was man-made, according to Owen, a test tube baby. And the other five bird kids were the same. As she watched the boy, quietly resting, she heard a noise and saw Ianto come into the holding cells, a cup of coffee in hand. She smiled gratefully as he handed it to her and murmured her thanks.

He just smiled, the looked at the boy lying in bed. "A wonder, isn't he" echoing Gwen's precise thoughts. "He's absolutely a miracle. Jack seems to think it all a ruse, that he's faked his own DNA somehow, but Tosh and I both told him to stop being paranoid. Owen was still to gaga over the DNA to pay any attention to what we were saying."

They stayed silent for a few minutes, just watching him sleep. Then, they saw him begin to stir, and Gwen reached for her bluetooth.

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Iggy woke up in a cold room on a hard bed. He sighed in relief, knowing that at least it wasn't a dog cage. Probably not the mad scientists then. He slowly got up out of the bed then froze as he heard the voice. "Jack, he's awake."

A few minutes later, Iggy heard the cell door open and a soft hand held onto his arm.

He heard the American accent say "Well, Gwen, come on and bring him up to the interrogation room. Don't let him escape."

Iggy began to feel a slight sense of panic as he was gently guided up the stairs. He didn't know what questions they were going to ask and he didn't know what they planned on doing to him."

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The Flock had followed the SUV all the way the wharf until it had stopped and they saw Iggy being carried into the office at the end of the pier. It looked rather small, thought Max, for a secret head quarters.

"Ok," said Max, as she laid down a plan. "One of us is going to walk into that office. Fang, it should be you, they probably didn't see you, with your camoflage skills. Pretend to be lost and stake out the place, then leave. Once we know the joint, we'll attack. Full force, no stopping. They think we're a bunch of kids and won't be expecting anything from us. All of us gotta try to pull our weight."

As they had the conversation, they were unaware of the cameras that had been watching them, and of the Torchwood team all gathered around the monitor.

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"Ok everyone," said Jack. "Time for Operation Gwen."

"Operation Gwen?" asked Gwen. "What's that?"

"Oh. That's what we call it whenever we want to introduce someone to the Hub and Torchwood as they try to be all sneaky about it. Like you did, with the pizzas."

Gwen blushed, as she recalled trying to infiltrate Torchwood as a pizza delivery girl, only to be found out before she even set her plan into motion."

Jack spoke. "Ok, Ianto, you and I will go up to the office, only because I want to do most of the talking. One of them is probably going to come in and then we are going to tell him to call the rest of the bird kids in."

"Using what leverage?" asked Tosh.

"The captured bird kid, of course, " answered Owen.

"Exactly," said Jack. "And when they're down here, we will have a little talk with them about who they are exactly. In the meanwhile, Gwen, prepare the blind kid. Make sure he can't escape, then bring him into the main Hub where the cameras can pick you up. They'll probably want proof of life before they come down here." He turned, took Ianto's arm and walked up the stairs to the main office.

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Fang slowly approached the door. He didn't want to do this, but had agreed per Max's instructions. He looked at the sign on the window, which said OPEN, and so he pushed the door in as quietly as he could.

His first impression of the office was that it was incredibly small. Of course, he hadn't been expecting some sort secret lab where anyone from the public could walk in. He slowly began walkng about the room, looking for some sort of secret passageway. He felt all the books on the bookshelf,checked under the desk and pulled on a few curtain strings.

Suddenly, Fang heard the rustling of beads behind him and he whirled around, ready to fight. The ma with the World War II coat and another one, with a suit, had just stepped in from a separate room. Both were wearing bemused expressions on their faces and Fang realized with a groan that they had been watching him for the past couple of minutes. From what he could see, neither was armed, so he relaxed just a little.

The man in the long coat spoke first. "So, Ianto, how long to you think it'll be before he starts threatening us?"

The man in the suit, Ianto, replied in exasperation, "Well, right about now Jack, since you brought it up."

So, the man in the coat was Jack, and the suited man was Ianto. Fang got those names straight. It was always good to know your enemies. If only Angel was here, then they'd get to know them even more.

"I suppose we should show him now, shouldn't we?" said Jack.

"Well, now that you've gone and ruined the whole plan, I suppose we should. I thought the point of you coming up here was that we would get more talking done instead of getting right to the chase. You always ruin any fun we have." pouted Ianto, in an accent that was distinctively Welsh. He reached for the side of one of the desks Fang hadn't checked yet and seemingly pressed a button. The wall to Fang's let slid open, and Fang jumped back, immediately expecting an attack.

"Don't worry," laughed Jack. "No one is going to hurt you, provided you don't try to hurt any of us."

Fang knew the man was trying to reassure him, but he could also here the veiled threat in that statement.

"Now why don't you call the rest of your group in here, and we'll all have a lovely chat downstairs." spoke Jack.

Fang looked at him distrustfully. "Before I do anything, I need to know if Iggy's still alive. The boy you captured."

"Iggy," mused the Welshman. "Short for Ignatius, isn't it?"

"No" replied Fang shortly. "It's just Iggy." Too late he realized his mistake of giving the name of Iggy, but now it was too late, so he didn't bother to try and cover it up. "And my name is Fang. But you haven't shown me that he's alive."

"Come over here," said Jack, motioning from behind the desk. Fang tensed, expecting some sort of attack, but the man just laughed.

"We're not gonna bite, I swear," he chuckled. "I just want to show you the monitor that's feeding us live footage from down stairs. That's where we are keeping your friend."

Fang cautiously approached the other side of the desk and was relieved to see that it was in fact Iggy, standing next to the woman with the dark hair, who had a tight grip on his arm. He didn't look hurt, and most importantly, he wasn't in a dog cage. He just looked a little frightened, but Fang would expect that from any flock member who got separated. His eyes quickly took in the other surroundings. Several computers, then some stairs descending into somewhere he couldn't see and another flight, ascending to a second story. He was impressed that all this was underground, but he was mostly disappointed. It looked really big, too big to take. But luckily, from what he had seen so far, the staff wasn't very large, and they should be able to take them down with a small fight.

Fang turned to leave, and felt a hand on his shoulder. He grabbed the hand and spun around to look at the owner, his black eyes flashing. He felt the bones crack slightly and saw Jack flinch in pain, but the man quickly regained his composure and gently eased his wrist out of the firm grip."Don't think you'll be going so fast. We've got your friend, and we aren't planning on hurting him, not unless he endangers someone, but if you want to see him, you'd better call your group in and come down with us. We won't hurt you, we swear, we just want to talk. If we don't think you're a threat we'll let you leave along with your friend, Iggy."

Fang scowled. He didn't want to call the Flock in and endanger them, but from what he could tell the two men looked sincere and they needed Iggy back. He silently nodded and walked outside to get the Flock.

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When Max saw Fang coming back out of the tourist shop, she breathed a sigh of relief. She was so happy that he was safe and hadn't been taken by those gun-happy maniacs. Her heart sunk when she saw his face, and she heard Angel say "No," as she read his mind. He walked up to the flock and spoke. "Iggy's safe, I saw him on the monitors. They haven't done anything to him." Max once again exhaled in relief, but could sense that there was a but coming. "But," Fang said like Max knew he would. "To get him back, the leader, Jack, says we need to come to their HQ to have a 'talk'. If he thinks we're not a threat, he'll let us go, along with Iggy, no harm done, but I don't trust him. Still, it might be the only way to get Iggy back."

Now Max understood why Angel had been dismayed when she read his mind. It was going to be a tough choice. Endanger the flock as a whole for a chance at getting Iggy back, or leave him there so they could do God knows what kinds of experiments to him. Her mind was already made up, but Max had to get the team's perspective first.

"What should we do guys?" asked Max. The team looked at her, all with the same expression. Do or die.

"We're going to get him." said Gazzy.

"Affirmitive." said Nudge.

Angel nodded towards Max, then all heads turned to Fang.

"Of course we're going in. Never leave a Flock member behind!"

The kids cheered and Fang and Max smiled at each other.

"So here's the plan," said Max. "This man, Jack, claims not to want to hurt us and Fang thinks he's telling the truth. Maybe he's just really good at lying. Either way, we're taking them up on their offer to 'talk'; however, under no circumstances should you let them restrain you in any way. First sign of any violence, we grab Iggy and get out of there. To avoid injuries, we'll stay there until they're finished 'talking' unless they attack. Iggy will be our first priority when we get down there. Angel, I need you to read his mind to see if he knows anything about what they are planning to 'talk' about. Ok, team, let's go!"

With that, the Flock broke from their huddle and walked purposefully towards the tourist office.

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Jack had been impressed at the young man. He had remained cool the entire time, barely showing any emotion except the relief in his eyes when he saw his friend was alright and the anger when Jack had grabbed him. He rubbed his wrist, which was still sore. Ianto had just laughed at him for letting a 16 year old get the best of him, but damn, that kid was strong. Stronger than Jack, which was saying something. He would have to ask them about that super strength.

Ianto wasn't sure that Fang would return. After all, he hadn't really said anything, and it had been nearly 10 minutes. But Jack had told him to trust him, so Ianto did. Ianto did a lot of trusting in Jack these days. Today, he trusted Jack a little more as the door to the tourist office opened and five kids walked in. They were led by that Fang guy and a girl, about his age, with brown hair, whom Ianto recognized from that night. The youngest child looked at him eerily and Ianto felt the need to hide himself. Those piercing blue eyes were boring into his soul, something he only let Jack do. _Jack_, he thought with a smile, as his thoughts drifted to the last time those eyes had pierced his soul, that day, in the archives, when Jack had his shirt half-off and they were well on their way to having a fantastic 30 minutes. He snapped out of his daydream when he saw the little girl shudder as her eyes broke contact with Ianto's. If he hadn't know better, he would have thought she was reading his mind. Impossible of course, but then again, in Torchwood nothing was impossible. He added it to his mental check-list to the list things he would have to ask the "bird-kids" as Owen had dubbed them.

With a playful smile, Jack motioned the kids to follow him. They warily descended the steps after him, with Ianto closing the door behind him as he left the office.

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><p><em>What's gonna happen next? You'll have to read and find out. Read and review. Comments make my little writer world go round. Any mistakes or errors please tell me. Kallik of Gallifrey: Sorry for any unintentional confusion I have caused. Janto means a relationship of JackIanto. But, I can see how that could be confusing. If you catch anymore mistakes **PLEASE** tell me. Thanks!_


	3. Welcome to Torchwood

_So now the Flock has followed Torchwood into the Hub. It's going to be time for their talk with Torchwood, and what are they going to find out about it's team members? No spoilers._

**_Disclaimer_**_: I do not own anything of James Patterson's nor do I own characters belonging to Russell T. Davis or BBC. Wish I did, but I don't._

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><p>Chapter 3<p>

The bird kids were amazed as they descended into the Hub. They looked around at the soaring ceilings, the tall device in the center, but their astonishment faded when they saw Iggy, standing unharmed, just like Fang had said.

"IGGY!" Nudge squealed as she ran towards him and tackled him in a hug. The woman with the black hair, Gwen, stumbled slightly as she tried to keep hold of Iggy's arm, but then, when she saw the joy on Nudge's face, she relented and let go. Iggy embraced Nudge, moisture forming in his sightless eyes as he felt the gratitude that his team had decided to come and rescue him. At the same time, though, he was worried. Now that this team, Torchwood, as the woman Gwen had explained to him, had them, what would they do? Experiments? Tests? Dissections? So far, they had only drawn a little bit of blood, "DNA tests" they had claimed, but Iggy didn't trust them to stop there. The bird kids were probably nothing like they had ever seen before and he wouldn't have been surprised if they decided to open one of them up to see "what made the clock tick".

"I'm so glad you guys came to get me," murmured Iggy into the mass of the Flock, which had raced to him to give him a group up after Nudge had initiated it. "But we've got to get out of here."

"Don't worry," said Max. "Angel's done a reading, and as far as we can tell, they aren't planning anything bad. We've decided to comply to their terms of 'talking'. Plus, some of the younger ones really need some rest. Two hours of sleep in four days doesn't really do any good for the mind and body."

Iggy nodded, and as soon as the Flock had finished their reunion, they all turned around, in Flock formation, to face their captors.

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Tosh felt uneasy as she looked at the six kids staring down her and her team with their glares. She saw their eyes, full of grief, torture and tragedy, something common in a Torchwood Agent, but not in six children. She felt so saddened by what she saw. Six children, yes, but not six child souls. She wondered what could have been done to them that was so horrific.

Gwen thought that those children looked starved. She could see that they were well-muscled, but she could also see that they were painfully thin. The bulky hoodies each one was wearing made them look even more thin. The wings, she reasoned, must be hidden under there. As she looked at each child, she remembered what those 5 minutes alone with the pale boy had been. He had just sat slumped in his chair, his white, sightless eyes gazing no where in particular. She had taken pity on him as he shivered from the cold. He was only wearing a thin t-shirt mostly because Jack didn't want him hiding any weapons, but also because Owen was amazed at how the wings fit so snugly against the body. She had given him back his sweatshirt, and he had accepted it without so much as a thank you, silently pulling it over his head. She gave him an introduction to Torchwood, but after he said nothing, they had just sat there in a few minutes in awkward silence until she got her orders from Jack to bring him up to the main Hub.

Owen was amazed at the 6 children. He had, without a doubt, seen all six of them grow wings and fly away, but right now they looked like normal kids. Jack told them not to be fooled, that these could be bloodthirsty aliens waiting to attack, but all Owen cared about was their biology. They were amazing. Part human part bird. Maybe they were from a race in the future where scientist created a new species of humans called, oh he didn't know "Homo Sapien-Avian". No matter what they were, one thing was for sure. They were amazing. Owen had never gotten to study aliens related so closely to humans.

Ianto didn't feel like staying in the room. He was still uncomfortable from when the little blond girl had fixed him with that creepy stare. He felt like getting out of the room. "I'm going to get some coffee," he whispered into Jack's ears. "The team has had a long night and it looks like those bird-kids could use something nice and hot. I'll make them some hot chocolate."

"Ok," whispered Jack, in a sexy voice, "But get Tosh to come and help you. Wouldn't want anything hot spilling over your sexy suit. Unless it involves me."

Ianto blushed, but turned and motioned to Tosh. "I'm making coffee for the team and hot chocolate for the bird-kids. I may need some help carrying all the cups."

Tosh nodded, glad to have an excuse to leave the room. She felt sorry for those kids, yes, but she was getting antsy with their stares trained on her.

Jack watched Ianto leave. He just couldn't wait to get that sexy Welshman back somewhere quiet where he could finish what he had started earlier that day. He smiled to himself, but then remembered why he was here. He turned to look at the silent group of the, he guessed he would call them bird-kids like the rest of the team had. He didn't trust them, not even for one second. He had been around for longer than anyone in Torchwood and he had seen plenty of aliens. They could occupy human host bodies and they could make holograms. It would be easy enough to make a holographis device so that the human eye would perceive them as innocent children. But that wouldn't explain the blood Owen had drawn, 98 % human. They were probably some sort of avian race from one of the planets inhabited by mostly flying creatures and were looking to call earth their home. They could have some sort of shape-shifting abilities that allowed them to mask most of their alien presence. Either way, he would trust them about as much as they would trust him, which wasn't very much judging from the looks they were giving his team.

He tried to listen in as the bird-kids began to whisper.

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Angel leaned over to Max, "So far as I can tell, there isn't anything bad about to happen. The man in the suit, Ianto, who just left with the Asian woman, Tosh, is going to make some coffee for his team and some hot chocolate for us. And, NO, before you ask, it is not going to be drugged. I can't get a reading on Jack, Max, or the guy Tosh refers to as Dr. Owen. Dr. Owen's mind is just black and Jack has some sort of wall up around his. And Tosh's thoughts aren't exactly clear either. Like there's some sort of interference. But there's no hostility towards us. The black haired woman, Gwen, actually feels sorry for us. Thinks we're too thin. Oh, and I think that Ianto and Jack are together" Angel's voice held confusion in it as she whispered that last comment. _Oh great_, thought Max, _Now I have to explain being gay and bi to Angel, and she's only 6. Oh well._

To the team, she whispered that when this Ianto came, they could have the hot chocolate when it was offered to the them since Angel said it wouldn't be poisoned and Angel was seldom wrong about these things. The team smiled in anticipation. It had been days since they had eaten or drank anything hot.

Then, they tensed as they heard Jack begin to speak.

"So, I'm guessing you guys aren't really talkers," he said with a smile on his face, but Max could see the suspicion in his eyes.

_He doesn't trust us_, she thought, _I don't know why, but he thinks we're some sort of a threat. If we don't start cooperating, he might just deiced to go back on the deal._

Max stepped up. "So, we've come down here and you've fulfilled your end of the deal. Now, what do you want to talk about?"

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Jack was relieved to have initiated the conversation so easily. So far, they hadn't been doing anything threatening so he decided to let down his guard a little bit. He smiled and them and motioned for them to follow him. "Come with me," he said.

They made their way downstairs to the Hub's "living room". There were multiple couches there, perfect for relaxing on, an ideal place to have a long conversation.

"Sit," Jack commanded, as he gestured to two long couches, side by side. Across from them, separated by a coffee table were two more couches, where Jack, Gwen and Owen sat down in promptly

"Please, make yourselves comfortable," said Gwen as politely as she could. She wanted them to rest, poor things had dark bags under their eyes. Looked like they had been awake for days without rest. Gwen knew how they were feeling. Exhausted, but on guard. Gwen felt the same way during a non-stop 3 day alien hunt where they crossed half the countryside looking for a large deer like creature, the size of an elephant, that was wreaking havoc through all the small towns.

The kids gingerly sat down on the couches, as if they might bite, but soon the tense features melted away from the 3 younger members as they sank into the couch.

Just then, Ianto and Tosh strolled in, each balancing a tray of six cups. They placed them down on the table and as Tosh sat down, Ianto began to distribute the cups, first to the team, but not Owen, and then to the bird kids. After finishing, Ianto grabbed a coffee of his own stood at the armrest of the couch by Jack.

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Gazzy, Nudge and Angel looked at max expectantly when Ianto had handed them their cups of hot chocolate. Max nodded to them and took a sip of her own. _Oh God,_ she almost moaned. _That hot chocolate tastes like it is made by an angel from heaven. Absolutely delicious._ She saw the rest of the Flock as similar looks of contentment passed over their faces. Max looked at Angel, who was happily smiling now that she had something warm in her stomach, and she sent her a telepathic message. _Don't get to comfy_, thought Max, _I need your mind-reading skills to tell me if they are planning anything_.

Angel nodded and a look of concentration came over her face. She began looking at each individual member of this team, Iggy called it Torchwood. She was focusing on the Japanese woman when suddenly there was a crash. The Flock jumped up and looked for the danger, but they realized that it was just Ianto, the hot-chocolate bringing man, he was looking at Nudge, his face was deathly pale.

Angel turned her head and began focusing all attention on him. Then, suddenly, her eyes widened in horror as she screamed and collapsed on the couch, sobbing.

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><p><em>Angel is crying. Angel <strong>doesn't <strong>cry. What is it about what Ianto is thinking that is upsetting her so much. And why is Ianto staring at Nudge in a state of shock? Find out next week(J.K. just when I get the next update up) on the TORCH/MAX show._

_So I hoped you liked that chapter. It may have been a little boring, no action, but I need time to develop the relationships between the Flock and Torchwood. More action later, I promise. Remember, reviews keep my little writer's brain going so read and review. It will make me a happy person and happy person= happy author= good writing=faster updates. And you WANT faster updates._

_Kallik of Gallifrey: Thanks for the constructive criticism you are giving me. It's great, really. My life would be made so much easier if there were more people like you. This is only my second fanfiction ever, and my first crossover, so forgive me for all my wrongs. I'll admit I might be moving to story along too fast, and I apologize for that. In the future, I will try to be a little more detailed in the development of my plot. In the meantime, KEEP COMMENTING. :)_


	4. Past Memories

_The tone of this chapter is going to be considerably angsty. I don't usually write like this, but for this chapter, I have decided to do so._

_Spoilers: "Cyberwoman"_

_Some of the Flock and the team may be a little off character in this chapter. Nothing dramatic, I hope, and I will get back to writing them as their trueselves._

_I describe how Ianto felt when Jack left, before "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang". Nothing that I write about how he feels is true. I mean, it might be, but it's not confirmed. I'm writing what I THINK he would have felt. _

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><p>Max turned and snarled at Jack. "What've you done to her?" she shouted, over Angel's sobs. All Max could think about was that there was her baby girl, on the floor crying. Angel may have been only six, but none of the flock cried, no matter what pain they were going through. Something really must have shaken her, and all Max could think of in her haze of rage was that it had something to do with those Torchwood agents.<p>

Jack, however, was concerned with Ianto who had leaned against the couch. "Jack, I'm so sorry," whispered Ianto. "She can read my mind..." He trailed off, then with one last look at Nudge, who was completely bewildered, he ran off down towards the archives. Jack stood rooted to the spot. On one hand, he had a hysterical child, and on the other he had his broken lover running off.

Tosh looked at Jack. "Go," she said. "We've got it handled here." With those words, Jack turned around and ran after Ianto, his coat flying behind him.

Max was trying her best to comfort Angel, who had stopped sobbing since Ianto left, but was still visibly shaken. The rest of the flock crowded around them, murmuring consoling words. Tosh tried to approach her, but Max gave her an icy look and put her arms protectively around Angel.

"What is it honey?" she said in a soothing voice. "What did you see?"

Angel whispered to her, her voice breaking. "I saw Lisa."

At that name Max saw the remaining Torchwood agents stiffen. "Who is it?" she demanded. "Who is Lisa?"

Tosh replied in a heavy voice, "That was Ianto's girlfriend. She's dead now."

"But why was he looking at me?" came the timid voice of Nudge, who was still shaken by Angel's breakdown.

Tosh looked closer at Nudge and began to see. "He showed us pictures, you know, of Lisa, when they were together. Something about 'learning to move on', or so the Torchwood therapist had said. She looked a lot like you. Same bone structure, same nose, same eyes even. I guess it was too much of a reminder of what had happened, and he just fell apart."

"But what happened to her" asked Fang. "I mean, she died, I get that, but why did it make him break down like that?"

Tosh looked at the kids. She didn't want to tell them the story but she had to.

She began, "Well, this isn't the only Torchwood. In fact, this is Torchwood 3. Torchwood 1 was based in London and Torchwood 2 was based somewhere else, but we lost contact a while ago. A few years ago, Ianto was working at Torchwood 1, along with his girlfriend Lisa. They were at Torchwood 1 around the time of the Battle of Canary Wharf, you may have heard of the 'ghosts' when you were in America."

The kids shook their heads, at the time they had been locked up in dog crates and were having experiments done to them.

Tosh began to explain, "Well, basically, there were these giant robot men, called Cybermen, and they began appearing out of nowhere. They were trying to convert humans into Cybermen, which basically removed all their emotions and replaced their bodies with metal. 'Upgrades' they called them. Do you understand so far?"

The Flock nodded. Human experiments were not something that they were unfamiliar to. They had seen hundreds of different human combinations.

Tosh took a shaky breath and continued. This was where she got emotional. She had had friends at Torchwood 1, friends that had died. "Torchwood 1 was trying to fight them off before they could upgrade the whole of London, and eventually the whole world, but a lot of agents died or were converted in the process. Lisa was partially converted before Ianto found her and the machines were shut off." Tosh continued explaining the story of Ianto and Lisa.

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Jack found Ianto in the farthest corner of the archive. He had collapsed on his knees and Jack could see his shoulders, shaking as he sobbed.

He softly approached Ianto, "Ianto, what's wrong. What can I do for you?" He kneeled down and pulled the Welshman off the ground, then he led him to a couch, were he sat down and comfortingly embraced him in a hug. Meanwhile, the Welshman continued to sob into Jack's chest.

"L-Lisa..." His voice broke. "She looks so much like Lisa."

Jack mentally slapped himself on the forehead. He should have seen this coming! He knew what Lisa looked like. Many a dull day in the Hub was spent by Ianto looking at pictures of Lisa. Jack would constantly walk in on him reminiscing about those happy times with a sad expression on his face. At first, Ianto would hide the photos, ashamed of his weakness, but as his and Jack's relationship got stronger, he began to open up. He saw pictures of Ianto smiling with Lisa, as they drank a beer, Lisa watching T.V., Lisa and Ianto playing games. All of these pictures had one thing in common. They were happy. Both Ianto and Lisa were smiling and Jack sometimes felt a little jealous. He didn't think he would ever be able to make Ianto smile like that.

But it was the smile, Jack knew that. It was the smile from that small black girl that set Ianto off. She already looked so much like Lisa, and when the little girls began smiling, it must have seemed to Ianto that Lisa was back again. But then he remembered all that had happened to her, everything that had gone wrong at the Battle of Canary Wharf. And so that little girl, Angel, had to pay the price when she looked into Ianto's mind and saw what he was seeing. Lisa, half human, half machine. That dead doctor, partially converted. Myfawny attacking Lisa. Finding Lisa dead on the floor. Seeing that pizza delivery girl, like the bride of Frankenstein, approaching him, saying she was Lisa, and then being taken down by an assault of bullets. It would have been too much for anyone to handle. And Jack knew, he could tell, that Ianto wasn't handling it either. Sometimes, when they lay in bed together, Ianto would begin to whimper in his sleep, like an injured puppy and Jack would put his arms around him and hold him, stroke his hair and tell him everything was going to be alright.

"It's just...Jack," Ianto's voice trailed off, but came back again. "I think of her all the time, Lisa. It's been so long but I still thing about her. And that smile, those eyes, that was Lisa. That was my Lisa when the cybermen took the rest of her away from me. And it was like they were shoving it back in my face that she was gone. That was my Lisa..."

Jack hushed Ianto as his voice broke again. "It's going to be alright, Ianto, everything is going to be alright." And Jack held Ianto tighter. They lay there on the couch for a few minutes. Ianto's sobbing gradually came to a stop, and soon he was gently weaseling himself out of Jack's grasp.  
>"Sir, I think we should go back up to the main Hub." he said in his monotone voice. "I'm afraid I may have given poor Angel a scare." He attempted a weak laugh, which trailed off at the end pathetically.<p>

Jack just looked sadly at the young man. He had seen this happen so many times before with Ianto. Something would happen, and his mask would slip. Just for a few seconds, Jack would see the true man that Ianto really was, grief-stricken and broken, but then he would slip it back on. The only indication of his deceptiveness would be his eyes, they were always full of pain, even in the moments that he appeared happy. And no one else would notice the pain, unless they knew to look for it. Jack only knew about it because he had seen Ianto without the mask, when they lay in bed together. It was then that Ianto would show his true pain. He would close his eyes and tears would trickle down his face, and all Jack could do was hold him close. Jack hated that he could never do anything to ease the pain. From what he saw, what Ianto felt seemed more excruciating than dying the thousands of times that Jack had.

He sighed, there was no point in trying to get Ianto to open up again. Once the mask was pulled on, it was awhile before it could be slipped off. Instead, he got up off the couch and took Ianto's hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Let's go then," he said. "Tosh will probably have told them everything by now." Ianto smiled, a genuine smile with less pain behind it, and they turned to walk out of the archives.

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"And so, we were forced to shoot the woman that Lisa had implanted her brain in. It was too far converted for us to do anything, and she was going to start trying to take over the whole world. But to Ianto, it was still HIS Lisa and it devastated him. We didn't know him very well before the incident, he was very secretive with us and we took him for granted, but he seemed immensely changed by her death. He became even more cold and withdrawn towards us. But then, he got together with Jack."

Tosh paused at this moment in the story. She looked at the kids uncertainly, she didn't want to creep them out to much. Gays had mostly been accepted into society, but with them, she wasn't sure. They hadn't had the same upbringing as most kids, but Max just nodded, to show that she understood. Tosh took another deep breath and once again continued.

"I don't know when it happened exactly, but we all noticed the change. He was a little more happy, more spring in his step. Jack did him good, when he was with him. But then, it all fell apart again. You see, Jack left. He was gone for a few months and Ianto became broken again. Whether it was because he loved Jack and lost him, or just because he didn't have a distraction from Lisa anymore, he was worse than ever before. Now he was depressed, entirely engrossed in his work. After Lisa, at least he still talked to us, but now it was like he lived in a shell, separating him from the rest of the humans. The only time he came out was when he had a job that needed to be done. And then Owen found the scars. One time, after an alien encounter, Ianto was badly injured on the waist. Despite his many pleas, Owen got Ianto's shirt off to treat his wounds. He didn't just find the alien claw marks. There were also scars, weeks old, on his arms. Thousands of tiny cuts made over a period of several months since Jack had left, which is what Owen assumed based on the oldest scars. Ianto refused to say anything about it, but afterwards, Owen began slipping anti-depressents into Ianto's coffee. You should have seen Ianto's face when he found out, he was furious. I'd never seen him get so emotional, except when Lisa had died. He told us to 'stay the bloody hell' out of his life. Jack came back a week later, when Ianto was still mad at us. And then, the anger and depression stopped. Jack was back and Ianto was happy. Only he wasn't. Jack didn't offer any explanation, and often times I would find Ianto in the break room or the archives, crying. He would quickly wipe away his tears when I came in. Acted like nothing was wrong and plastered a smile on his face, but I knew. I knew that he was broken and that he had been broken so many times that he couldn't be fixed, not even by Jack. And then, you."

Tosh looked at Nudge, not with anger, but with sadness. "He was healing, slowly, but surely. Never to be completely repaired, but still getting better. I don't think he had really thought about her for months. But you, you were too much of a reminder for him."

"I'm sorry," whispered Nudge. "I didn't...I mean, I wasn't trying to.."

"I know sweetie," replied Tosh, with kindness in her eyes. "You've just got to give him a little time. It's not your fault. You can't help how you look."

As Tosh said those words, the team and the Flock both heard the two pairs of footsteps coming up from the archives.

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><p><em>Hope you liked this chapter. I'm a little disappointed. Apparently, I'm getting hits and visitors, but not too many comments. Thanks to <strong>Kallik of Gallifrey<strong>, **MaeganM.0816**, and **feather1** for commenting. You guys inspire me to keep writing. With that said, if you read, please review if you want this story to go on. It's not a threat or anything, I promise, I just have a lot on my plate and I want to know that what I'm writing here isn't completely wasting my time._

_Speaking of having a lot on my plate, finals are coming up and I HAVE to study. Like, if I don't get passing grades my parents will absolutely murder me, and then I can say good bye to my summer vacation. I will, however be posting on my birthday, for sure, on June 4th, so you can look forward to that.(This is my secret plot to get more people to recognize the date June 4th, mwahahaha.)_

_P.S. to **feather1: **Thanks for the idea! And here I was running out of ways to make the story more interesting. Who knows...maybe its Ianto child that he never knew about. Guess you'll find out in my next post. DUN DUN DUN._


	5. Connections

_See? I promised to post on my birthday!_

_Ok, so Jack and Ianto come back from the archives, the Flock knows the story of Lisa. Read to find out more._

_Spoilers: Meh...I already said for "Cyberwoman"._

_Disclaimer: I don't own either one of these stories. But I'm working on a device that'll help pigs fly!_

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><p><strong>Connections<strong>

The Flock and the Torchwood team fell silent as Jack and Ianto both came up out of the archives. Both men were covering their true feelings, but it was more evident in Ianto's face because of how broken they had seen him just a few minutes ago.

He put on a cheery smile, despite all the looks of pity he was getting, and walked on over to the cupboard of cleaning supplies. Without a word, he cleaned up the mess he had made from dropping the cup on the ground. After it was done and he had thrown away the shards, he once again took up his position next to Jack, all the while keeping his eyes averted away from Nudge.

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Nudge was squirming uncomfortably when Ianto came back. She didn't like to think that she resembled a dead woman and having him back in the room only served to make her more antsy.

Max leaned over to Angel. "No more reading his mind, ok. No need to get anymore scared."

"Don't worry," said Angel. "I'm blocking him from my thoughts. Here's the weird thing. I'm not getting any readings on the other two guys, Owen and Jack. Owen has no thoughts whatsoever, all there is is blackness and Jack seems to have some sort of wall erected around his mind."

"Well try to get through it," hissed Max. They really needed to know about Torchwood's leader.

"I am, but it's like he's repelling me." replied Angel, crinkling her forehead as she concentrated. "Every time I poke the wall, it pushes me away. He has experience at doing this, Max. I don't think I can get through."

Max was getting genuinely worried. If they didn't have the ability of knowing every thought of their opponent, defending was going to be a lot harder.

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Jack looked at the flock. Huddled together in an innocent looking group while sipping their hot chocolate, they looked like children, but Jack wasn't going to be fooled. Although they could need Torchwoods help, Jack's number one priority was to his team and that he wouldn't trust them until he was sure that the bird kids weren't a threat to any of his team members.

"First order of business," he said. "Owen here needs a sample of blood from each of you. We need to make sure that you, like your friend Iggy, are indeed 99% human and 1% bird."

The Flock visibly shuddered. Clearly they did not like blood-drawings.

"Part of the deal," stated Jack.

They all looked to their leader, the girl named Max, who grudgingly nodded, then spoke up. "No restraints. Just a needle, straight into the skin and out. If it looks like you are lingering, we will attack."

Jack nodded with respect. She was treating her team the same way he treated his. Protectively, but practically. Making demands on their behalf and dishing out threats.

"Ok then, if you'll follow me," gestured Tosh as Owen got up and headed to the med bay to prepare the needles. The Flock solemnly got up and filed out one by one, except for Gazzy, who was chugging his hot cocoa. Angel grabbed his arm and pulled him away as he stretched forlornly for the cup.

"I'll be making some more of the chocolate," said Ianto. "The younger ones will probably want some consolation for getting their blood drawn," and he headed up to the coffee room. Jack watched him go with sadness, the young man in constant pain.

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Max winced slightly as the needle pierced her skin. She had the overwhelming urge to fight the doctor, needles were never her thing. She had insisted on being the first to get her blood drawn, so the younger kids wouldn't be so scared.

"Alright," said Owen as he squirted Max's blood into the vial "Next."

One by one, the bird kids sat on the cold metal operating table and had their blood taken. After everyone had their blood drawn, Owen put samples into the DNA scanner of the computer, same as he had done to Iggy's blood.

None of the Flock was really interested in what the results said. Scientists at the school had run these sort of tests time and time again, so the kids knew the results by heart. Therefore, they were not very surprised at Owen's continued amazement; however, they became a little more interested when he began running their DNA through the database.

The way they looked at the screen as it ran through the faces of possible matches, Owen explained. "This will show any DNA samples the same or similar to yours that have been entered in any database in the world. Torchwood has that kid of power."

Max was suddenly interested. None of them knew their real parents, the School has never provided that information, so any sort of relative would be good to know. There were no matches for Fang or Max. He ran Gazzy's and Angel's blood together, since they were related, and that pulled up no results either.

Suddenly, the doctor's eyes went to the screen as a result popped up for Nudge's parents. "Jack," he called in a nervous voice. "You better come see this. It's important."

Jack came walking over. "Yeah, what's wrong."

"We got a parent match for one of the girls, Nudge I believe it was. 50% matches one person and 50% matches someone else."

Nudge perked up. "Who is it?"

"Yeah Owen," Jack said. "Don't keep us in the dark. Tell us why this is so important."

"Jack," came Owen's dead serious voice. "The DNA matches are Lisa Hallett and Ianto Jones."

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><p><em>*GASP* So Lisa and Ianto had a baby that no one knew about. And that baby becomes a mutant bird kid! What madness is this? Guess you'll find out if you keep reading!<em>

_Sorry that this chapter is so short. I kinda just wanted to get to the point of the DNA matching. Hope this isn't going to fast for you guys._

_So, read and review since its my birthday and that will make me happy. I will try to update ASAP, at least in the next week, hopefully. But I have finals all next week so I might have no time between all the last minute cramming to write anything good, and I'm sure you would all rather wait for something good than get something crappy in a short time._

_See Ya'll! :)_


	6. It's a Girl!

_So this chapter is a little longer than my last one to make up for not posting in a while. Enjoy!_

**_Disclaimer:_**_ Don't own Maximum Ride or Torchwood. All rights to James Patterson and BBC(or whoever owns Torchwood)_

**_Spoilers:_**_ I guess the third Maximum Ride Book: "Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports"_

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><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

Everyone in the Hub froze.

"Excuse me?" asked Jack. "You're saying Ianto and Lisa had a kid?"

"Well, Jack," replied Owen, clearly just as bewildered. "We have both their DNA records on file, and yes, it seems this girl Nudge is a child of them both. I scanned for all sorts of possible matches. Relating to crime scenes or relatives Both sets of DNA are a 50% match so it seems like it's so. I'll need to do a paternity test to make sure."

Ianto stood where he was, stunned. He honestly didn't know what to do. Should he be happy? After all, he just found out not all of Lisa was gone. At the same time he was confused. Lisa never told him anything about having a child or being pregnant. When had this happened and why hadn't she told him?

Nudge was in shock too. But she also felt excited. After all these years of not knowing who her parents were, she finally found out she had had a father and mother. True, her mother had been converted into a robot, then shot to death by the people surrounding Nudge, but still. And she did have a father.

Jack looked at Ianto. "When did this happen?" he asked. " You and Lisa had a kid and you didn't bother to mention it?"

"I didn't know sir, I'm just as confused as you are." Ianto replied. "She never said anything about a kid, but...Oh God," Ianto froze as he came to a realization. He turned to look at Nudge one last time before he left the room.

This time, Jack had no qualms about leaving the rest of his team. As he followed Ianto, Gwen came walking down the stairs.

"Ianto just walked by, looking pretty shaken. What happened?"

"Get Owen to explain to you, which way did Ianto go?"

"Towards your office I believe," replied a confused Gwen. Jack wasted no more time and quickly walked toward the place Gwen had said the Welshman was heading.

When he entered the office, he saw Ianto was sitting in one of the chairs, slumped in despair.

"Hey, Yan," Jack said softly. Ianto looked up at him, his emotional walls down for the second time that day. Jack could see the pain and sadness in his eyes.

"We met, me and Lisa, in college," said Ianto. "We were trying to buy a flat together but couldn't afford it. Then, one day, Lisa just got the money and it was enough for us to pool to get a down payment. I wondered why she was so moody that week. She must have given up the child to the scientists for the money." He looked up at Jack. "But she didn't even tell me. Why wouldn't she say anything. We loved each other..." He trailed off, his voice nearly breaking.

Jack sat down next to Ianto on the couch and ran his fingers through the younger man's hair. "Sometimes, even those closest to us don't tell us everything. I'm sure she had a good reason. But what happened in the past isn't important. What's important is that there is a little girl out there who might be your daughter. She's a part of Lisa and if you really loved her, you would at least get to know that girl a little more."

"I guess you're right, Jack," sighed Ianto. "Better get back before the team gets worried. They've never seen me break twice in one day."

"I suppose so," Jack gently kissed Ianto's forehead. "Let's go." With that, Jack and Ianto pushed themselves off the couch and walked back to the medical wing, hand in hand.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

Nudge was still in a state of bewilderment. She really didn't expect to be able to find out about her parents. That guy, Ianto, could be her father? These thoughts were just too unbelievable. Although, she thought with a grin, she did have a pretty cool dad. I mean, what kid wouldn't want to have a dad that they could say hunted aliens for a living? It was just amazing. She was a little put off by his reaction, though. She hoped he didn't hate her because of what happened to his girlfriend.

The rest of the Flock looked at her in amazement. None of them had thought that this unlikely misadventure would lead them to a discovery of one of the parents of a member of a Flock.

Angel was the first to smile. She ran over and gave Nudge a hug. "I'm happy for you Nudge." she said, looking at her. "I know that it is something you really wanted."

Max was a little unsure of what had just happened. She didn't want to completely trust the Torchwood team just yet. It could have been a trick to make the Flock more trustworthy of Torchwood, but as Max looked at the picture of Lisa, she began to see the resemblance. The eyes matched Nudge, both in shape and color, as did the hair and the skin color. True, Nudge's skin seems a little lighter, but that could have come from having a whtie father. What Max didn't understand was why Nudge had ended up in America, instead of England. They knew that the School had other laboratories in other countries, so why wasn't Nudge raised there? Max concluded that it was probably just that the School in America was the most advanced, or maybe they just needed the donations the most.

Angel walked over to Max. "I don't think that they are lying, Max. I may not be able to read any of their minds but I could tell from their faces that they were all genuinely surprised. And I read Ianto's mind. He seemed that he really didn't know anything about it."

Max looked at Angel. "I thought I told you not to read his mind anymore."

"I'm sorry Max," said Angel, smiling and clearly not sorry at all. "Some thoughts I can just hear without even trying, especially if they are very strong thoughts."

Max sighed. "So, you think we should trust them?"

"I don't see why not." Max jumped slightly at Fang's deep voice. She hadn't noticed him as he came up behind her. "They haven't done anything yet that seems threatening, and as far as I can tell, they are offering to let us stay for a while. They want to know more about us. Look at the kids. They need rest."

A glance at the yawning Gazzy and Iggy, who had previously been excited about the discovery of Nudge's parents, told Max that Fang was right. They would try to mooch of this team for as long as possible, until the Flock was ready to start up again. Plus, it would help team morale if Nudge could find out more about her biological parents.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

Owen looked in interest at the group of huddled kids. Really, they were amazing. As a doctor for Torchwood, Owen had seen a lot of things: alien blowfish, hideous weevils, and gigantic dinosaurs. But he had never seen something so elegant as the design for these "Bird kids". They were nearly flawless in design, perfect for flying and yet human enough to retain cognitive functions of an average homo sapien. If only Owen could really do some tests on their blood. He really was anxious to start taking apart those DNA strands, literallly finding out not only what made those bird kids tick, but how it did that.

He was interrupted in his thought processes when the eldest girl, Max, spoke to him. "So that dude, Ianto Jones, is Nudge's father?"

"Umm, yeah," said Owen. "Most likely. To confirm, we'll need to run a paternity test using Nudge's and Ianto's DNA, which I am doing right now. We should get the results in a half-an-hour."

The girl looked impressed. "You have the equipment for a paternity test? And it analyzes the DNA that fast?"

He smiled. "Yeah, we're an agency with more authority than the government. They give us the best equipment available. You never know what you might need when some sort of unknown alien gets spewed out of the Rift. Plus, it helps to have a resident computer genius working for us." Owen nodded his head towards Tosh, who had arrived a few minutes ago. She blushed. The little blonde girl, Angel, looked at Tosh intently for a few seconds then smiled.

Just then, Ianto and Jack walked into the med bay, hand in hand. When Owen looked at them with a raised eyebrow, Ianto blushed and quickly released Jack's hand.

"So we going to do the paternity test or what?" asked Jack cheerfully.

"Its being run as we speak." Owen said. "We'll know within the half-hour."

Jack nodded. "In the meantime," he said. "Why don't we interview these bird kids some more?" He turned to the Flock and gestured for them to follow him. The kids readily followed him back to the section of the Hub containing the couches.

As the kids got settled, Jack began his questioning.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

The first thing that Jack wanted to know about the Flock was where they had come from.

"Well, we were raised in California in this place we dubbed the School," said Max. She was a bit uncomfortable with sharing all of this information with these people. Despite what Angel thought, she still wasn't sure about trusting them. But Max didn't really trust anyone, except her Flock, and she doubted that would ever change; however, so far these people hadn't made any moves on them and Fang did have a point about using their base to help the younger kids get some rest. "It was more of a research lab, all the people there were scientists. But before we go any further, how about you get my Flock something to eat. We're starving."

Jack looked at Max, then nodded. "Ianto, call up some pizza. Have them deliver to us. 4 large pizzas? Any preferences?"

"Better make that 5 large ones. 4 meat and 1 half veggie half cheese" said Max. She knew her flock orders by heart, pizza was what they ate when they could eat hot meals "Nudge and Angel will split one." Max looked at the two girls, who nodded. "But the rest of us need our own. We eat a lot. Bird metabolisms and all.

Jack didn't even look slightly phased at this request. Max supposed that with aliens constantly being caught, they would be used to really weird food orders, so obscene amounts of pizzas weren't even unusual.

Nudge piped up. "Oh, and some more of that hot chocolate. It was really good!" Jack smiled. "I'll get Ianto to make some more." He looked up at the Welshman. Ianto smiled and nodded. He was beginning to see the attributes of Lisa in this girl: cheerful, perky. The memories of Lisa came with pain, he thought as he went to order the pizza, but there were also joyful memories, ones that he had long forgotten but that resurfaced at this arrival of these bird kids.

After Ianto left, Jack once again continued with the questioning. "So when was the last time you were at the School?"

"It was about 3 months ago, actually. After we had escaped with the help of a scientist called Jeb Batchelder, we hid away in the mountains for a few years. 2 years after Jeb disappeared, Angel here was kidnapped and taken back to the School. We had to go back and rescue her and that was the last time we saw the School." replied Max.

"So is it actually called the School, or does it have an official name." asked Jack. He wanted to know so he could find out more about this place.

"Well, we actually recently found out that the School is largely affiliated with an organization called Itex. We were flying past here to London to see if we could find out anymore about, well, our origins. And it seems like we have partially succeeded."

"Tosh, run the name Itex." called Jack.

"Already on it," came her quick reply.

"Well, that won't do any good. We've already ran Itex through the School's database. Nothing came up."

Jack smiled. "But Torchwood has access to anything and everything in the world. Whatever stuff we don't have access to..." he was cut off by Tosh.

"I've got a hit, Jack, a secure website, I'll get us in."

"...we hack." finished Jack, a triumphant smile on his face. "So," he continued. "Let me ask, what did they exactly do in that School?"

"Well, it was pretty bad," said Max, uneasily. She really didn't want to dredge up the memories of the School, but it was necessary. After all, these people were giving them FOOD. "They kept us in dog crates and ran a variety of tests on us. Constantly taking our blood, making us run miles and miles to see our endurance. It would get pretty bad."

Jack nodded, showing no emotions. "You were new, unfamiliar even thought they did create you. They had to know more about you. We see that a lot with aliens if we don't get to them in time after the Rift has spewed them up."

"Just can't get away from them, huh?" said Max.

A sad half-smile appeared on Jack's face, "Yeah, there's always those stupid humans who can't seem to accept the change, or always have some reason to be threatened by it."

Tosh called to Jack. "I've gotten through to the site. There's a lot of genetic research going on here, I'll send some of the files to Owen, oh wait," she paused as another monitor beeped and she rolled her chair over to it. "Weevil sighting, Jack."

"Ok then," Jack leaped up from his seated position. "Owen, Gwen, Tosh, come with me." He turned to Ianto, who had just come in, carrying the cups of hot chocolate and 5 pizza boxes. "You stay here and look after the bird kids. We'll be back in a half and hour to an hour, depending on how it takes us to get the weevil situation under control."

Max interrupted him. "No way are you leaving us here. We are coming with you." She looked at the Flock, who all nodded in agreement and had already leaped to their feet.

"But you're just kids," protested Gwen.

"Look, girlie," said Max, clearly running out of patience. "These 'kids' as you call them have probably seen more in the last five years than you have in your entire life."

Jack smiled. He like this girl's spunk. "Now, in most circumstances you would be right; however, considering this is Torchwood, I would probably say Gwen has gone through an equal amount as you. But, you are right. We can't judge you as kids, not after what you've told us so far. So," he said, mischievious grin lighting up his face, "who would like to get a lesson in catching Weevils?"

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><p><em>So, finally, a little more action is going to be coming up. I promise to develop the storyline for Nudge and Ianto more, just right now I want to get in a little butt-kicking by Torchwood and the Flock. So yeah, I'm out of school so I will have more time to write more chapters; however, forgive me if I don't update as much. I've reached a point in the story where the writing isn't coming as easily, but I promise not to abandon! Just hang in there! Hope you liked this chapter.<em>_ Oh, and remember:_**Reviews gives me happy feelings :)**


	7. Meet the Weevils

_So this chapter(and one's following it) are going to be less point-of-view-changing. In other words, i'm going to switch POV in a less structured manner. So all of a sudden we might go from what Max is thinking, to say, what Tosh is doing. There will stil be breaks in a change of scenery, so you aren't completely confused, but overall I just felt it would help the story move along if I didn't have to stop at every POV change and put a break. If you don't like it comment. If I get enough comments about it, or enough of my favorite people comment about it, I will change back. Ok, so back to the story._

**_Spoilers:_**_ Really, none._

**_Disclaimer: _**_:'( to not owning Maximum Ride or Torchwood (Though I'm more sad about not owning Torchwood. I think JP has done a fantastic job on Maximum Ride; however, there are a few things that could be changed on Torchwood)_

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><p>Max dodged the weevil's first attempt to slash at her. She and the Flock had flown to the scene after Tosh had given them the directions and thanks to their awesome bird skills, they were ahead of the Torchwood team by 5 minutes. Angel had used her mind control to clear out the area around the weevil so no innocent civilians would be harmed and while Nudge was helping Gazzy and Iggy drop smoke bombs on the Weevil, Max and Fang were fighting it on the ground.<p>

One of the things Max noticed was that this alien was ugly. Really ugly. At least with the erasers, they bore a resemblance to wolves. This alien creature was completely different. It looked like someone had decided to mash a ton of different animals together. They gave it the shape of a human, claws of a tiger, teeth of a shark, and a face which could only be classified as a rat/pit bull. They were also quick, and far more resilient than Erasers. Those would usually go down after a few blows, but this alien was withstanding multiple kicks without being phased, and it was almost succeeding in getting to Max and Fang.

As the weevil moved towards her again, Max once again dodged out of the way and as it ran past her, Fang had the opportunity to kick it in the back. It stumbled forward, then quickly regained its balance and turned around for another attack. Max sighed in exasperation. How long was it going to take the Torchwood team to get here?

As an answer to her question, Max heard the shouts of the Torchwood team as they ran down the alley the Flock had cornered the Weevil. Without a warning, Jack tackled the Weevil full on, like a football player and it went down. It's flailing stopped as Jack sprayed the canister of weevil sedative in its face.

"Ok," panted Tosh, who was still out of breath from running down that alley. "That's all you saw?"

Max nodded, then turned attention to her flock, who had gathered behind her.

"Everyone alright?" she asked. "Nudge, it got a pretty good swipe at you before you got into the air."

"I'm fine Max," said Nudge. "Just a scratch on my arm." She extended the arm forward for Max to take a look. It wasn't just a scratch. It was a long ugly gash, that ran from the inside of her wrist to elbow.

Max looked at Jack, "Couldn't have been any faster I suppose?"

Jack raised his hands defensively. "You insisted on flying ahead."

"Only because there was no room in that SUV!" said Max. "And you could have stood to go a bit faster. You never went above what? 40 mph? And now Nudge is hurt!" She turned around to gesture to her, then saw Owen kneeling down and examining Nudge's arm.

"Hey!" she shouted, approaching the medic. "What do you think you are doing!"

"Relax," said Owen. "I'm just cleaning her wound. Don't want it to get infected."

Nudge winced as the antiseptic hit her open wound.

"She's also going to need stitches." said Owen.

"She'll be fine," said Max. "Super fast healing is one of our advantages."

Owen looked at her. "Trust me, it needs stitching. I say this as someone who has had personal experience in dealing with fast regeneration. Plus, I can already see the slow process of healing. You clotted twice as fast as a normal person would, but you will still need those stitches. The only difference is that instead of having them in for 3 weeks, you've only got to have them for a week."

Nudge sighed and looked at Max plaintitvely. "But I don't like needles. They remind me too much of the School."

Max ruffled Nudge's hair. She knew where the girl was coming from, but she felt inclined to agree with the doctor, especially after seeing the wound close up. "I know honey, but the doctor seems to know what he's doing. Better do what he says to get better the fastest." She then threw a threatening glance at Owen, letting him know that it was crucial to his well-being that he make Nudge get well.

"He's patched me up more times than I can recall." A new voice, Welsh and soft, came from behind Max. she turned around to see Ianto Jones, who had just finished making sure there was no retconning needed. "Thank that girl of yours, Angel, for clearing out the area. Usually, the most tiresome job to do with the alien attacks is getting the people to forget."

"So, you've got a device that, like, controls minds?" asked Nudge, her curiousity piqued.

"Not so much a device," explained Ianto. "As a pill. We call it Retcon. Depending on the dosage, it will wipe out the memories of a person for a given amount of time. Sometimes, we can even replace the memories with other, artificial ones."

"Cool," stated Nudge. "Wait, you're not going to do this to us, are you?" Max stiffened. Nudge had a point. Despite the fact that the Retcon seemed harmless, she didn't want to lose memories of anything. In the world that she lived in, that was just too risky.

Ianto laughed. "Of course not. The team has already established that you are not a threat."

Max looked at the man incredously. _Not a threat?_ How could they not be a threat? They were freaking kids with wings! Any other people they had met always thought they were a threat, in fact the Flock had heard several conversations beween scientists at the School discussing how that "project" might have to be terminated because they were getting too strong.

At the sight of Max's and Nudge's perplexed faces, Ianto smiled. "To the security of Torchwood. You are clearly trying to fly under the radar, no pun intended, so it's not like you are going to be shouting from the rooftops about how we are a top secret organization that deals with weird creatures. Anyway, you're already trying to bring down an organization like that. As for a physical treat, I'm sure you can see how we deal with physical threats." He gestured to the motionless Weevil which Jack and Gwen were now carrying to the truck.

"Is it, you know, dead?" asked Nudge.

"No, what Jack sprayed in it's face was a Weevil sedative designed specifically for this species to knock it out. Although, it may work on other things, we've never tried." mused Ianto.

Max decided to ask something that had been on her mind. "So what are you going to do with it now? Kill it? Experiment with it? Torture it?"

Ianto looked shocked. "Of course not! We'll probably relocate it to a more isolated part Cardiff since it hasn't actually killed anyone. First we'll tag it though. The only experiments we ever perform are on Weevil's we've been forced to kill because it was a life or death situation. Jack is highly against torturing of any alien creatures. We only resort to such measures if, say, the Earth is at stake."

"Oh, and does that happen a lot? The Earth being at stake?" challenged Max.

"Actually, you'd be surprised to know how many times it happened." interjected Owen. "Now, if we are done with all this explaining, I really would like to get Nudge here back to the Hub so we can stitch up that arm of hers."

"Ok, but she's flying back." said Max. She really didn't trust Nudge alone in an SUV with a bunch of strangers.

"I would have to disagree on that," stated Owen, as firmly as possible. "She's lost a decent amount of blood. Not an unhealthy amount, just enough that she really shouldn't be flying. Any physical excercise should be avoided until she has had a chance to rest."

Max looked at Nudge and saw that Owen was right. In addition to the dark circles under her eyes, she was also seeming pale, and considering her skin tone, that really wasn't good.

"Well then," she replied. "I suppose you could take her in the SUV. But she better not be harmed." The last bit was on a threatening note.

Suddenly she heard Angel's soft voice behind her. "Don't worry, they won't hurt her." She whispered.

"I assure you, Max," said Ianto. "We will get her back to the Hub safely."

"Alright then," Max grudgingly replied. "You ok, honey?" She looked at Nudge, who responded with a soft nod. "Ok, I'll see you at the Hub." With that, she made the Up and Away motion to the rest of her Flock, who had been watching this exchange, silently.

"Let's get you into the car," said Ianto, as he gently picked up the sleepy girl into her arms.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

Ianto looked at the sleeping form of the young Nudge. Her eyes closed, she lay across his lap and Ianto stroked a few strands of loose hair out of her face fondly. Resting there, peacefully, she looked like Lisa had the morning of Canary Wharf. Ianto had gotten up early that day to surprise her because it was her birthday. As he had crept out of bed to begin making breakfast, he had stopped and spent a few minutes just looking at her, thinking how beautiful she was and how lucky he was. He was going to propose to her that day, but just as he was getting ready to pop the question during breakfast, they had both gotten the call from Torchwood 1 to come to the head quarters as soon as possible because the 'ghosts'. And then Lisa had been turned into that half-cyberwoman and all thoughts of a happy future had vanished from Ianto's thoughts for that day.

But now, as he looked at the young girl, Ianto felt a glimmer of hope. Sure, he may not be able to look after the girl, watch her grow up, she seemed pretty attached to the Flock already, but he could offer her a safe place once in awhile. Maybe get to know her some more. She had seemed quite excited about the prospect of having a parent and Ianto didn't want to disappoint her. Also, it gave him a fond reminder of Lisa, instead of the horrible memories of her as a half-turned monster.

Tosh, who was sitting next to Ianto on the way back to the Hub, looked at the younger Welshman. Ever since Jack's disappearance, she had become decisively closer to the younger man. They both had something in common, lost lovers, her with Tommy and Owen and him with Jack, as well as Lisa. She really did feel sorry for him. Especially after the pendant incident where she had heard his innermost thoughts, she was even more sympathetic to his pain. During Jack's absence, they had become drinking buddies, sometimes they would even go to one of their flats and they would just talk. Enough alcohol would be drunk and then Tosh would truly hear his pain. About Lisa, the cannibals, Jack's long death and his hasty departure, Owen's comments about being his part time shag, and everything Torchwood related.

She really hoped Ianto wouldn't get too hurt by this. The love she saw in his expression, even though he hardly knew the girl, showed how much he was opening his heart. She just didn't want him to get hurt too much if the girl decided to leave. It would like Lisa all over again, and Tosh really didn't want that to happen to him. Over the few years she had known him, she had developed an almost sisterly love for him.

Jack was having a whole set of his own thoughts in the front seat of the SUV. He had glanced back once while driving to check on the girl and was stunned to see her laying across Ianto's lap. Then, because his eyes were not on the road, he nearly crashed into a car in the opposite lane, so he decided to keep his eyes focused on the road.

As he drove along, Jack silently worried about Ianto. He had seen the profound effect that Nudge had had on the 29-year old. He didn't want more hurt to come to him than had already occurred. He didn't want more sleepless nights where he lay in bed with the Welshman, holding his shaking body close to his own body as tears silently spilled down Ianto's face. Half the time, Ianto was asleep during these episodes, he didn't even notice Jack's touch. Jack wasn't sure of the nightmares, but he could tell they composed of the various occurrences at Torchwood. During several nights, Ianto would softly moan about Lisa, other nights he would beg for his life from the cannibals, still others he would plead for Jack not to leave, not to abandon him once again. These nights continuously broke Jack's heart and he didn't want another name added to the list of Ianto's nightmares.

On the other hand, Nudge was doing some good for Ianto. A good piece of Lisa for him to hold on. And perhaps, Ianto would understand that the little girl might not be able to stay with them forever, and maybe he'd make the most of it. But if the girl did end up staying longer, maybe Jack should get to know her too. After all, his relationship with Ianto was progressing and he wanted to show the man that he did in fact care for him and wanted what was best for him. Being kind, and even fatherly, to Nudge would probably help Ianto see that.

When the black SUV arrived at the Hub, the flock was already waiting for them outside the tourist office. Jack marveled at their sense of disguise. Instead of being in an obvious flock formation, they were scattered, lounging about, though Jack could see the tense guarded expressions on their faces. Any regular passerby would just see some kids loitering.

As Ianto got out slowly, Nudge in his arms, Jack could see the anger in Max's face as she began to stalk over.

Jack once again held up his hands defensively. "Hey, she's just asleep. We didn't give her anything, I swear."

His voice brought Nudge out of her deep sleep. "What...huh?" she said, obviously disoriented. Ianto stumbled as she struggled in his arms.

"It's ok," he said in his soothing voice. "You were asleep and I didn't want to wake you. Can you walk?"

Nudge silently nodded and Ianto gently lowered her. He then noticed her bleeding arm and looked at dismay at his ruined coat, covered in blood despite the bandages on her arm.

"You ok, sweetie?" asked Max worriedly. She didn't want to show it, but inside Max had been increasingly nervous while waiting for the telltale black SUV to appear on the Plass.

"I'm fine. The arm hurts a little, but other than that, I just feel a little tired." replied Nudge, clearly exhausted from the day.

"Ok, we'll find you a place to rest first thing." said Max soothingly as she inspected her arm. The bandages covered the wound and to Max's relief, there didn't seem to be too much blood.

"Not so fast," interrupted Owen. "We need to give her the stitches first and properly clean it. If it gets infected it'll get even worse."

"Ok, then, let's go." said Max, impatient to get it done with.

As they entered the Hub through the tourist entrance, Max looked at the Flock. "You all stay with Nudge, ok? I've got to go and have a little talk with the captain."

The kids nodded their heads in agreement and Max stalked off to find Jack, who had gone in ahead of them.

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><p><em>So yeah, crap ending to this chapter. Sorry for that, I just felt it was getting a little too long and this felt like an OK place to stop. Sorry if all chapters can't end in dramatic cliff-hangers. I know I'm a horrible author. I said I was going to update more often and I didn't. My own laziness is to blame. But I really will try to update more often, however I am a little put out by the lack of reviews. I hope to get more. If you are reading this and plan to continue to follow it PLEASE REVIEW. It really gives me good incentive to write more frequently. It not that hard, just press the button and write a few words of praise or constructive criticism. It really does help!<em>

_**A/N** For all intents and purposes, Ianto is 29 in this story, just to make Nudge as his child slightly more believable. She's 11, he's 29, so he was 18 when Lisa got pregnant. Just wanted to clear that up._


	8. Reflection

_Spoilers: Tiny one for "Countrycide"_

_Disclaimer: Don't own Torchwood or Maximum Ride. Really wish I did, but we don't get everything we want in life. _

**_A/N_**_ I realize my POV's are pretty limited. Haven't really used Tosh or Gwen or any of the flock members besides Max. That's because I'm prioritizing the most important characters in my mind. Not that I don't like Tosh, or Gwen, but I prefer Jack, Ianto and Owen. Plus they are currently playing a more relevant part. As for the flock kids, I'll try to get POV's for all of them sometime in the story. Can't promise anything though_

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><p>Jack was just walking through the cog wheel door of the Hub when Max caught up with him. "We need to talk, your office, now," she commanded, leaving no room for argument. Jack was slightly stunned by her forcefulness, but reminded himself that he shouldn't be. She really was so much like him. With a smile, he set off after the teenage girl who was walking purposefully towards his office.<p>

When he entered the office, she was already standing, arms across her chest, looking at him with a glare. He smiled his flirtatious smile, the one that usually got everyone, but she just looked unimpressed. "So what are we going to talk about?" he asked. "Seems you didn't call this meeting just for a staring contest."

"You're right," said Max. "We need to get a few things straight. It looks like we might be staying here for a while, recent events taken into account, which means we are going to have to lay down some ground rules. First of all, I'm in charge, when it comes to my Flock, no one else. Anything you want to do with them goes through me FIRST and I get the final say on anything related to them. Secondly, you stop treating us like a threat. That means freedom to do what we want. Thirdly, since you also seem keen on keeping us, you have to provide for us. A safe house of some sorts, food, clothes etc. Fourthly, we get access to papers about Torchwood and such, especially if you are planning on studying us AT ALL. You want to know about us, so you've got to let us know about you. Lastly, educate us about threats, like Weevils, before we go out to chase them on our own. Either that or get to the scene faster."

Jack smiled at all her requests. Yep, she really was a lot like him. That's exactly what he would have done if he had been caught in a situation with his team like her. Though, if she was going to be setting down these ground rules, he would have to lay down some of his own laws.

"Deal," he replied. "But, then you have to follow our rules as well. You have to remeber, this is MY Hub, which means MY rules. Nothing to go against your demands, just some things you'll have to agree to. No flying about Cardiff, people might see you and we really don't want to have to Retcon. Don't always get so defensive with your Flock. We've promised not to hurt any of them, unless they threaten one of us, so you need to start believing us. If you stay here, you've got to begin to trust us, which admittidly might not the easiest given your situation, but I believe we've haven't done anything to lose your trust."

"Other than, of course, kidnapping one of our Flock members." said Max, sarcastically.

Jack winced. "Which, we are sorry about; however, you know we fight alien threats and it was necessary since we didn't know if you were a threat or not. Also, no harm came to him and we've set him free, like you asked, so we really should put that behind us."

"I guess," Max grudgingly agreed. She didn't want to admit it, but she had been trusting the team more, and they hadn't recently been threatening the Flock.

"If you go by my rules, we will go by yours" said Jack. "Agreed?"

Max thought about the conditions he had told her. They seemed reasonable. "Agreed." She replied, then held out her hand for him to shake. Jack accepted it, a huge smile on his face. "Ok, then, let's get back out to our teams." he said.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

Owen honestly didn't know what to do with the young bird girl he was supposed to give the stitches to. He really needed her to sit still, but she kept wincing away from the needle and the rest of the Flock, though sympathetic, was reluctant to approach the autopsy table. Really, Owen couldn't blame them, after all, being experimented on for most of your life by scientists tends to make you a little wary of all things medical related.

But he was getting really impatient. He had tried being polite. "Please stop moving so I can fix your arm." Then bribing. "You'll get some nice hot chocolate if you just sit still for five minutes." Begging. "Just PLEASE, stop moving. I really need to get this wound fixed up." Finally he couldn't take it anymore. "Just hold bloody still for five seconds," he shouted. "So I can sew up your arm!"

When Nudge looked at him, tears forming in her brown eyes, he mentally gave himself a face palm. Why the hell would he talk to an 11 year old gir like that? What kind of idiot was he? He saw that tall quiet kid, Fang, approaching him, then a hand was on Owen's shoulder. He turned around to see Ianto's piercing blue eyes staring at him. He flinched, he really hadn't wanted to make the Welshman mad.

Ianto looked at the tense bird kids, ready to fight for their flock mate. "It's alright." He told them, using his soothing tone. "Owen here just has terrible bedside manner. I'm surprised he even managed to pass out of med school with that sort of attitude." Owen scowled openly at the Welshman, who just looked at him angrily. _Great,_ thought Owen_. Now he's going rub that fact that I can't drink his coffee even more._

_"_Hey, it ok," Ianto took one of Nudge's hands into his own. "It's going to be ok. Now I know Owen isn't the nicest guy, but all he wants to do is get you fixed up. He's nothing like any of those scientists at the School that you've talked about. Trust me, I've known him for a long time. Would like me to hold your hand while he fixes your arm? We'll get you some nice hot chocolate after this, I promise."

Nudge nodded mutely, smiling though her eyes were still shining from previous unshed tears. She gripped Ianto's hand tightly and Owen sighed in relief as he was finally able to complete the task.

He first unwrapped her bandage. The long gash was still there, but to his surprise, it had healed a lot more. Still needed stitches, but not as many as he had thought at the sight of the Weevil attack. He took some warm water from the basin and began dabbing at any of the left over dried blood around the cut.

Ianto's voice came to his ears as Owen prepared the needle and was about to begin the sewing. "Hey, don't look there, look over at me." He looked up to see Nudge turn her head away from her arm and towards Ianto, whose eyes were overflowing with care and compassion. Now Owen was not a sentimental type of person, but he was touched to see the care Ianto was showing towards the young girl. As Owen began the sewing, he thought how, had Ianto not joined Torchwood, he would have made a very good father. And maybe he would have the chance. The bird kids intended on staying for a while, or so Owen thought, and so Ianto could get the chance to try being a father he never got to be.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

Ianto continued trying to get Nudge to look at him. He murmured words of encouragement as she winced from the pain of the needle. She really was scared, he could tell, and she had a good reason judging from her history. He knew how she felt. After the events of Canary Wharf, any sort of robot he saw in store windows that remotely resembled a cyberman would bring fear to his heart. It had grown worse after Lisa. Then there was the incident at Breacon Beacons. Any sort of processed meat would cause him to shudder and have flashbacks about that fateful night. So yeah, he knew how Nudge felt, and he wanted to help make it better. Plus, it couldn't hurt to gain her trust. After all, she was his daughter, as the paternity test had confirmed.

This gave him a feel of excitement. A daughter. A chance to have a family that he never had before. Maybe he had been wrong about before. Maybe the Flock, or at least Nudge, would stay with Torchwood longer than a few days. Maybe some weeks or months. Judging from the flock, they didn't like staying in one place too often so it might be too much to hope that they stay forever, but Ianto hoped they would stay long enough for him and Nudge to have some sort of father-daughter relationship.

He felt her wince as Owen pierced her skin with the needle once again. Her small hand was exerting a large amount of force on his hand as she grasped it tightly and he had to keep the pain from showing in his eyes. She had a surprisingly strong grip for such a small girl.

After a short while, Ianto felt her grip on his hand relax and he looked at Owen, who had just finished the stitches.

"So," said Owen. "They should be out in a week, probably less. Just no straining them or we'll have to redo it all and I don't think you'd like that."

Nudge nodded. She looked at Ianto. "Can I get some hot chocolate now?"

Ianto smiled. "Of course, a promise is a promise, isn't it? And I'll go ahead and warm up some of the pizza. You never got a chance to eat any."

"Oh no, that's ok," piped up Angel. "We're fine with eating it cold. It's a lot better than anything we've ever had to eat before." She walked up to Nudge and Ianto as they left the autopsy room. Come on, Nudge, let's go split our pizza.

Nudge smiled at the prospect of food. "Ok," she said happily and she followed Angel and the rest of the Flock.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

The first thing Max noticed when she followed Jack out of her office was her Flock. They were happy, actually happy. Like, they were all laughing, with the exception of Fang, although she could see him smiling slightly, something he rarely did. She could see that Welshman, Ianto Jones, walking up to them, balancing a tray of hot chocolate. They all surrounded him and grabbed a cup. After the mass of hungry bird kids cleared, he was left standing with only one cup left. As he saw her approaching the eating area, he set the tray down and picked up the remaining cup, heading over to her.

She nodded her thanks to the Welshman as he handed her the last cup. She gratefully inhaled the steam rising off the hot cup. After the long grueling days of travel, this opportunity to relax was greatly appreciated. She walked in on the Flock eating and saw her box of pizza, set off for her. Exhausted, she collapsed into a seat and grabbed a slice. Although tired, she wasn't going to keep sleepiness from letting her eat. The pizza, though cold, tasted like the most fulfilling stuff she had ever eaten, which in comparison to her meals the past couple of days, was true.

Half-asleep, Max listened to the faint chatters of Nudge, Angel and Gazzy. Nudge was vividly expressing her joy in finding a parent, and such a cool one at that. No boring citizen who did everyday duties, a real life super hero to be precise. Iggy and Fang conversed in hushed tones about the Itex corporation and how they wanted to examine the stuff Toshiko had found, but all in all, the team was relaxed. They hadn't been like this since the house Jeb had taken them to. Jeb, Max thought with regret. The man who had betrayed them to the School. The man she could never trust again because she had already had her faith in him broken.

Suddenly, Max's reverie was broken when the telltale stomps of Jack's boots shook her out of her stupor. She looked up to see Jack make his way to the end of the table so the Flock was forced to look at him. She sat up, curious to what he had to say.

Jack cleared his throat, unneeded considering that the entire Flock was already looking at him. "Torchwood has given some thought to your requests." he said. "While we agree you need a safe house, we can't provide one for you just now, it's a little too late and frankly, Dr. Owen thinks it would be best if you stayed in the Hub for the while, especially with one of your members hurt. Ianto has some sleeping bags, enough for five of you. In recommendation by Owen, Nudge will be sleeping on the couch so we can comfortably adjust her injured arm. Ianto's already set up the sleeping bags near the couch so you can all be together.

The Flock looked out of the window to see that it was in fact true. They could see Ianto, along with Gwen and Owen, setting up the sleeping bags.

"Hope that's ok," said Jack.

"Trust me," said Max. "This will be a real luxury. Somewhere warm and relatively safe to sleep in."

"Relatively!" exclaimed Jack. "I'll have you know we hardly get intruders in here."

"Key word there being 'hardly'" quipped Max in reply.

"Give it a rest Max," said Fang quietly. "Just let the kids get to bed already."

Max looked at Fang incredulously. He never blatantly went against her, but as she looked at Angel, Nudge, Gazzy and Iggy, all trying hard not to fall out of their chairs in exhaustion, she realized that he was right.

"Ok, Flock, time to get to sleep." she clapped her hands, perking up the sleepy members.

Surprisingly, none of the younger kids put up a fight about going to bed, which told Max the extent of their exhaustion. Within minutes of climbing into the sleeping bags, most of the Flock was quietly sleeping, though Gazzy was snoring quiet loudly.

As the last Torchwood team members left, Max looked up at Jack's office, where Ianto Jones and Jack were talking. Ianto appeared to be arguing with Jack, who was very firmly refusing every one of his demands. He began to speak to Ianto, with a commanding look on his face and when he was done, she saw Ianto's expression had softened and he nodded slowly. Jack smiled, he had apparently gotten Ianto to see his way. Then, much to Max's surprise, they quickly kissed each other and Ianto quickly walked out of Jack's office. As he passed Max by, he smiled towards her and nodded. Despite her profound dislike for such formal gestures, she nodded back as well. _Ianto Jones,_ she thought. _A man she could learn to trust provided he didn't hurt any of her Flock._ And trust was something she didn't invest in other people easily.

A movement in Jack's office caught her eye and she realized that, despite the time, Jack had not left the Hub. He evidently saw her looking through the window because he poked his head out of his office and called softly, "Go to sleep Max, no one is going to hurt you."

The relief she felt in hearing those words from him felt silly. Everyone was trying to hurt her and her Flock, all the time. But this man, this new man in her life had begun to give her a sense of security that even Jeb hadn't been able to offer. With Jeb, she knew that he would care for them and love them, at the time, but he could never guarantee their safety from the School. Jack was different. His cocky swagger, yet commanding look gave Max the feel that she could rely on his protection more than she could ever rely on anyone else's. And as Max fell asleep in her sleeping bag, she felt ashamed. Ashamed that she could feel so safe around a man she barely knew and endanger her Flock by doing so.

* * *

><p><em>Kind of a sentimental, not very good ending. Sorry about this chapter if it's not any good. I'm going to try to get a little more action into the next chapters. The problem here is that I don't want to get too tiresome in any of my chapters, yet I want to be detailed in how certain things happen, so there will be domestic scenes with not a lot of violence or action, and I apologize in advance for some of those. <em>

_Hoped this story wasn't too bad. Thanks to all who have supported me, though I would like to see some more reviews up, please. From praise to constructive criticism. It'll make me happy.(Unless it is pointless flames. Please refrain from those.) I will try and update soon!_


	9. Kidnapped!

_Spoilers: None. Maybe a little one for Something Borrowed. Just a mention of it. A quote, if you will._

_Disclaimer: Don't own either the books nor the show. I know, it's sad. Wish I did, but whatcha gonna do about it?_

* * *

><p>Max woke up the next morning to the sound of footsteps. She immediately became alert, a trait acquired over the years of hiding out, then tried to find out who, or what it was. To her relief, she saw Ianto, entering the Hub and making his way up to the boardroom. He looked down towards the sleeping bird kids, then smiled apolegetically towards Max when he realized he had woken her.<p>

"I'm sorry for waking you," he said. "You didn't get much sleep last night, I assume."

"Why would you assume that?" asked Max. "What time is it anyway?"

"6:00 a.m." came his polite reply. "If you're already up, why don't you come with me. I'm just about to make some coffee."

Max followed the Welshman up to the coffee room. When they reached it, he began to bustle about the room, grabbing different types of ingredients, turning various knobs.

Max watched in a sort of quiet fascination. Within minutes he had a steaming cup in front of her. As much as she had liked the hot chocolate, she was glad for the caffeinated pick-me-up. Even more glad when she tasted the coffee. Not only did it perk her up almost instantly, but also the array of flavors washed over her taste buds and down her throat, and she was in a state of euphoric bliss. Almost as good as the scent of homemade chocolate chip cookies. Almost, but not quite. Those would always be her favorite. Now that she was a little more clear headed, she looked across at the Welshman who was sitting with his own cup, sipping it, while staring at her.

Awkward silence ensued, then Max broke it with a subtle question. "You always come in this early, especially when leaving so late?"

"Always," came the Welshman's reply. "Sometimes I only have time to take a shower and change before I have to come back. The only reason I go home those nights is to get a fresh set of clothes."

"Must be exhausting." stated Max.

"Most of the time, but you learn to live off the adrenaline. I suppose it's the same for you, except with less fresh clothes." Ianto tactfully shifted the conversation away from him. He never did like being the center of attention.

"Yeah, I suppose." laughed Max. "We're lucky most nights if we even get to sleep. Never mind clothing issues. Once a week, a new pair of jeans from come thrift store that we have to steal because we have no money. Being on the run, I recommend against it."

"Suppose it wouldn't be too fun," said Ianto, smiling slightly.

Not sure of how to continue the conversation, Ianto stood up, intending to get ready for the rest of the day. He paused as Max spoke.

"Don't hurt Nudge, ok?" she said.

Ianto turned towards her, his eyes questioning.

"One of each Flock member's dreams is to find their real parents, and now that Nudge has one of them, I just couldn't bear to see her get hurt."

"Of course," said Ianto. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"Good," said Max, as she walked around the table and stood in front of Ianto. Her brown eyes glinted dangerously. "Because, despite the fact that most of us are not related by blood here, we are about as real of a family as you can get. This Flock is all we've got. I like you, Ianto Jones. You seem decent, but if you hurt Nudge, or ANY of my Flock for that matter, you will have me to deal with, and not in a good way. Are we clear."

Ianto nodded, impassively. He wouldn't let his emotions show, no matter how strong they were. It was only after Max had left the board room, did he turn away and let the sadness fill his face.

He honestly didn't know how to not hurt the little girl. Working for Torchwood, he wouldn't be able to give her any sort of stability. Plus, by working for Torchwood, he couldn't expect his life to go past 30. For all he knew, a Weevil could maul him tomorrow, or he could fall victim to some new alien threat. But he was comforted in the knowledge that she did have a family, her Flock. They were with her for her whole life, and they would take her of her. For now, Ianto would just have to try to be the best father that he could be.

"What's my favorite Welshman up to?" Ianto straightened quickly at Jack's voice, then turned to the sleepy looking American.

"Good morning, sir," he said. "Just making some coffee for the Flock and team once they get up."

"Need some help?" said Jack. "That's a lot of coffee. And, also, don't call me sir. None of the team is here yet, so Jack is just fine."

"Alright, Jack," said Ianto, for once not willing to argue. "No offense, but you really can't do anything to help me in the coffee department. I would go to say so far as that you might actually be a deterrent."

"And why would that be?" Jack stepped closely towards Ianto, his nose nearly touching the other man's face, as he looked into his eyes. The guarded walls gave Jack no hint as to what his young lover was thinking.

"You're a distraction," mumbled Ianto, looking away from the piercing blue eyes of the older man.

Jack smiled delightedly as the blush spread across Ianto's pale complexion. He loved to see the Welshman flustered because most of the time, that was the only emotion he could elicit from him during work hours.

"Really, Jack," said Ianto, as he forcefully pushed the captain away. "If you want to be helpful, go buy some bagels for breakfast for the kids. I'm sure they will be starving when they wake up. And get a lot."

"Right," said Jack, a little miffed by Ianto's rejection. "I'll be back in 30."

Ianto nodded, then turned to busy himself with the cups of coffee.

After Jack had gone for breakfast, he began to have some realizations. Like, how would Jack factor into the kid's life. Like a dad? Or maybe Jack didn't want any sort of responsibility like that. Ianto knew about Jack's daughter, Alice and his grandson Steven, he had read about them in the archives. Jack almost never spoke to either of them, and Ianto assumed it was because he just never wanted the commitment of a child. In that case, Ianto wouldn't want to be the one to push Jack to have to do anything outside his boundaries.

Similarly, Jack was having the same sort of thoughts as he exited the Hub and headed towards the nearest bagel shop he knew was open this early. He wanted to know how he would factor into the kid's life. Like a dad? Despite what the others thought, Jack could committ, he could handle responsibility. Furthermore, he wanted to handle that responsibility with Ianto. Lately, he had begun to realize that his feelings for the man were beginning to grow into something far more than just sex. But, maybe Ianto didn't want that kind of commitment, or maybe he wasn't ready. In that case, Jack wouldn't want to be the one to push Ianto to do anything outside his comfort zone.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

One by one, the bird kids began to wake up, as the decadent smell of coffee reached their noses. Max, already awake and alert watched fondly as the younger kids rubbed the sleep from their eyes.

The kids relished the morning. Despite the fact that it was extremely early, it was still good to wake up for once in a decent place and not have to instantly worry for their well being. Ianto came walking out of the boardroom, tray with 5 coffee's in hand. When he handed out the cups, one by one, Gazzy, Nudge and Angel all showed signs of disappointment at the absence of chocolate, however they quickly smiled after they tasted the hot beverage.

Iggy and Fang accepted the cups with nods of thanks. Max smiled when Ianto carefully guided Iggy's hands to grip the coffee cup firmly.

"You should be careful," he warned as Gazzy started to eagerly gulp the coffee, then gagged. "It's very hot."

At that moment, Jack walked in, carrying a large bag of bagels. "Breakfast!" he called cheerfully, as he brought the bag of food over to the hungry children. They didn't hesitate to dive into the bag, each bringing out a bagel, indiscriminate of flavor.

"There are plates in the boardroom-" Ianto began, then stopped when he saw they weren't listening to him, rather focused on the food. "Or you can eat it right here." he finished.

Jack smiled as Ianto winced visibly when Gazzy accidentally let part of the bagel fall to the floor. Similarly, crumbs surrounded each of the boys who were eating. Jack walked over to his lover and put an arm around his waist. "Don't worry," he whispered into the Welshman's ear. "I'll clean it up."

Ianto looked at him and smiled. "I doubt that very much, sir. I don't think I would let you. You may just end up making even more of a mess."

"Now, Ianto," said Jack, pouting. "Why does it seem that you think I can't do anything right this morning?"

"Oh, but sir, you can do many things right. There's really quite a list." whispered Ianto, seductively, using his Welsh accent to his advantage.

"And I don't suppose you'll let me show some of these things?" asked Jack. He really hated Ianto right now. It was all he could do from throwing Ianto down on the couch in front of those children and taking him.

"Maybe later," said Ianto. Just then, the cog door rolled open, signalling the arrival of Tosh, who was always the second person in during the morning. "I've got to get Tosh her coffee."

Jack watched appreciatively at the retreating Welshman's back.

"You should tell him," came a small voice. Jack whirled around to see Angel standing behind him. "Excuse me?" he asked.

"Tell him that you love him," she said innocently.

"How do you know that? I don't let anyone read my thoughts, ever!" he exclaimed.

"It's in your eyes," she said, as she turned her back to him to get more bagels.

Jack was slightly disturbed by the small girl. She reminded him so much of the tarot card reader he had seen right before joining Torchwood those many years ago.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

Within the next couple of hours, Owen and Gwen had come in. Owen right after Tosh, after all he didn't need to sleep, and Gwen about a half-an-hour later. The day proved to be about as quiet as it had been the past weeks, with no Rift activity.

Jack was in his office, working on some papers when Ianto came in. Jack looked up at him, a smile lighting up his face. "There's my favorite Welshman."

"Sir, you've used that phrase twice in one day." said Ianto, one eyebrow raised.

"What, I'm not allowed to speak the truth?" said Jack.

"It's just, I assumed that being in Cardiff for all these years, you would have picked up a great deal of Welshmen." replied Ianto.

"You, Ianto Jones, are the only Welshman I will ever need." said Jack as he got up from his desk and pulled the young man into a soft kiss. He pulled away a few seconds later, leaving Ianto slightly breathless. "You needed something?" he asked.

"Yeah, uh" stammered Ianto, momentarily flustered. Then he regained his composure and resumed his business-like tone of voice. "I was just wondering, since the Rift is pretty quiet, maybe I could take a small trip out, just for an hour or two."

"What for?" asked Jack.

"Just picking up some essentials, for the kids. Looks like they are going to be here for a while, so I should get stocked up on food and stuff."

"That's a good idea Ianto, but do you think you'll know their sizes and styles?"

"Well, sir, I did say my father was a tailor, and as for styles, I've observed them enough to know what they would want to wear."

"I do recall that. I also recall we haven't tested that family eye yet." said Jack suggestively.

"Maybe later sir," said Ianto, firmly resisting Jack's attempts to seduce him. "Right now, I need to head out and get the stuff."

"Yes, sir, I did think it would be a good idea. So, I'll be heading out now. Torchwood credit card, sir?"

"Actually, use mine," said Jack. When Ianto looked like he was going to protest, Jack stopped him. "We have to write up an account of all the expenses on the credit card. I'd rather that Unit not know about these bird kids. Anyway, I've been working for Torchwood for years, I think I can handle one shopping spree."

"Very well, sir" replied Ianto. He started to leave the office, then on an after thought, he turned around and gave Jack a quick kiss. "See you later."

Jack smiled. Slowly but surely, Ianto was beginning to trust him more. Maybe he could tell the Welshman how much he loved him soon. Hopefully, Ianto would reciprocate.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

Max was a little suspicious when Ianto went up to talk Jack. They had been talking and constantly looking over at the couch where the Flock was lounging. Finally, Ianto had walked out of the office, then out of the Hub without saying a word.

Normal people would call this paranoia. Then again, normal people weren't constantly dodging bullets while trying to stay free from an organization that had raised them as lab rats and was trying to kill them. So, really, it wouldn't be paranoia. Mostly, extreme caution. As a matter of fact, considering what Max and the Flock had been through, not being overly suspicious would classify as downright stupidity.

And then there was the issue of Angel not being able to read the minds of over half the team.

"So, honey," said Max to the blonde curly haired girl on the sofa. "You're telling me you can't get any reading off Jack? Or the doctor Owen?"

"No, it's weird," Angel wrinkled her forehead in concentration. "The only one that is really easy to read is Gwen. Tosh's thoughts are murky, like she's also read minds before. Inside of Owen's head is just darkness, it's scary." She shivered and Max pulled her close. "Don't worry, Angel, the thoughts can't hurt you."

"Yeah," she sighed. "I suppose. And then there's Jack. He's got a wall around his thoughts. Not like Owen. He is thinking stuff, he's just protecting it. Like he's been trained to withstand mind-reading or something. And Ianto too. He has a wall, like Jack's, only not as strong. He can't keep the really strong emotions hidden. Like Lisa." The whole Flock shuddered as they recalled the horrific story of his converted girlfriend.

"Poor Ianto," murmured Max. "I don't usually say this, since we've all been through so much, but his life has throughouly sucked. Watching hundreds of people die, then trying to save someone you love, but not being able to. It must have been horrible. And working for this place, with the horrors you see every day. I'm surprised none of these people are driven insane."

"Actually, Torchwood has a forty percent rate of employees who go insane." The Flock jumped at the new voice. Tosh stood behind them. "Of the 26 survivors of Canary Wharf, 19 were committed to asylums. Best in the country, of course, but asylums nonetheless. And one of our own agents recently turned against us a year back and was killed. Torchwood gets to you. And then, of course, there's the life expectancy. Most Torchwood employees live to their late 20's early thirties."

Max was really starting to feel at home here. Not knowing when you were going to die and expecting not to live for very long anyway, the Flock dealt with that everyday.

"So, what, none of you guys are going to live for another 10 years?" asked Max.

"Nobody knows" said Tosh, matter of factly. "There could be an alien invasion and tomorrow we would have to give our lives to save the world. It's part of the job."

"But why?" asked Nudge. "Why would you do something that might kill you? It would be better to have just a regular job, wouldn't it?"

"Some of us don't have a choice, other's do it because it'll help avenge the one's we love." replied Tosh.

At that moment, the cog wheel door rolled back. Ianto came in, carrying large bags of foodstuffs and other essentials. He walked past them, into the boardroom. The younger kids ran up towards him.

"Oh, what'd ya get?" exclaimed Nudge. "Food, shampoo, soap? I'd like a shower, I haven't had a shower in a very long time. Where would we take the shower? Are there showers here? Is it warm water? I would like a warm water shower? Look at all that food! What's for dinner? Is it-" she was cut off by a hand over her mouth.

"Hey Nudge Channel," said Iggy. "Not all of us can see, so let the man explain."

"Thank you, Iggy." said Ianto. "Though Nudge does have some very good questions, which I will answer in due time. First of all, I would like your help in unloading the SUV. I stopped by some clothing stores to pick up some stuff for you guys."

Angel, Gazzy, and Nudge lit up like Christmas trees, while Max Fang and Iggy merely smiled in relief. Finally, some new clothes and a possible shower. What a relief.

"I only need a few helpers, so Nudge, Gazzy and Angel, come on." he said, and the children eagerly followed him up.

Up at the SUV, Ianto handed each kid two bags of clothing. "Head on down." he told them. "I'll get the SUV in the garage." As Nudge, Gazzy and Angel disappeared into the shop, Ianto smiled. He was glad to have made them happy. As he circled around the back to the SUV to get to the driver's side, he suddenly felt the cold barrel of the gun press against his back. "You've been hanging with the bird-kids." came a growling voice.

_Crap,_ thought Ianto. _Someone from that "School" the kids were talking about. Ok, gotta stay calm. Gotta let Jack know what happened._

"Who are you?" he asked authoritatively. "What do you want with me?"

"You know what we want. Those bird-kids." stated the voice.

"At least let me see you. I can't talk to thin air." Ianto was spun around and flinched slightly at the hairy, wolf-like face that stared at him.

"Don't lie to me, I saw you with the little blonde girl, the boy and that black girl. We know they're from the School and we've been sent to capture them."

"Ahhh," said Ianto in realization. "So you're an Eraser?"

"Yeah I am, but you better stop asking the questions and start answering them, or else you'll be in a world of pain."

Ianto smiled, simliar in the way he had smiled at that cannibal before headbutting him. "I think you are the one who will be in a world of pain." Before the wolf-man could react, Ianto quickly kneed him, then knocked the gun out of his hand. He turned to run, and at the same time turned on his comm. "Jack, there's Erasers here from the School. They've come for the bird-kids. Promise to keep them safe. Don't let-". Suddenly, Ianto felt a ripping pain across the side of his face. The last thing he saw before he hit the pavement was the leering grin of multiple wolf-men standing around him, then he faded into the blackness.

* * *

><p><em>Oh my gosh! I just realized something horrible. I was brushing up on Maximum Ride, and I realized that my timeline is wrong. It's meant to be set after they go to New York, but there is no Total or Celeste. I'm so sorry, to all you Total lovers, really I am. I feel like a complete idiot. I'm not sure if I can integrate this into the story in some way. But I will try.<em>

_Also, sorry for the update time. I'm really having a writer's block right now. Just the weather in my city is making me feel really off and unable to write anything good. Sorry about any mistakes I made regarding Canary Wharf, or anything else. Feel free to correct me._


	10. Rescue Mission

_**Last Chapter Recap:** Ianto comes into the Hub in the early morning. Has a heart to heart chat with Max. Flirts with Jack a little, gets breakfast for the Flock. Rest of the Torchwood team arrives. Ianto leaves to buy essentials, including clothes, for the Flock. While he's out, the Flock talks about Ianto and Torchwood. Tosh joins in. Ianto returns, unloads the SUV. As he's about to park it underground for Torchwood, he is kidnapped by Erasers but is able to get a message out to Jack over the comms before he is knocked unconscious.(Some sentences are fragments. I'm sorry for that if anyone is offended by it.)_

_**Spoilers:** None really_

_**Disclaimer:** Don't own Torchwood or Maximum Ride. I have however, recently come into the possession of a certain Jack Harkness._

_Jack: Where the hell am I?_

_Me: Watch your language, Jack. People are reading this. As for your question, you're in California, United States right now. In my closet._

_Jack: That explains the lack of room. Why am I here?_

_Me: You are going to help me with the author's notes until I finish this story_

_Jack: I'm a little fuzzy on the details. How exactly did I get here?_

_Me: The Doctor was kind enough to drop you off here._

_Jack: THAT BASTARD!_

_Me: Seriously Jack, watch your language._

_Jack: Ok, ok. Fine. Anyway, what's this story you're writing?_

_Me: Remember, Max, the Flock, winged children._

_Jack: Oh yeah, that. _

_Me: And now Ianto's been kidnapped by Erasers._

_Jack: Oh, the ones that are supermodel gorgeous in human form._

_Me: Stop that!_

_Jack: Ow! You didn't have to hit me!_

_Me: Being the huge fan of you and Ianto, I will not tolerate you flirting._

_Jack: But that comes as naturally as breathing. If I don't do it, I might die!_

_Me: Which you'll come back from, so it's all good._

_Jack: Fine, let's get on with this story already. This closet is way too cramped for my taste_

_Me: Not much better from that hole you claim to live in at the Hub. But you're right. We should get on with the story. Special thanks to **Kallik of Gallifrey** and **zorua** for their reviews. It's people like you who keep me going. Anyway, enjoy the the story!_

* * *

><p>"Jack, there's Erasers here from the School. They've come for the bird-kids. Promise to keep them safe. Don't let-" and then the comms were silent. Jack leapt to his feet, and ran towards the entrance of the Hub, but by the time he got to where the SUV had been parked, there was nothing left but a small pool of blood by the driver's side of the door.<p>

"Ianto," he yelled into his comm. "Ianto, can you here me?"

A low growl, most definitely not those soft Welsh vowels, came onto the comm. "We've got the pretty Welsh boy here with us. And it's only a matter of time before he breaks. Then we'll know everything. Everything about how to get in and take those pesky kids, as well as bring down your organization."

Jack scowled, letting the fury seep into his voice. "Let me tell you, one hair on his head-"

"Oh, there will be a lot more than one hair, Captain." the voice used the title with sarcasm. "And you will be powerless."

"Don't bet on it. When I get my hands on you, you'll wish you'd never been born."

"Too late for that Captain." then the comms went dead.

Jack stood, stunned for the moment. Behind him he heard the patter of footsteps as his Torchwood team, as well as the Flock by the sound of it, ran up to assist him.

"It's too late," he whispered. "They took him. They took my Ianto." He turned to the eyes staring at him. Unshed tears glistened in his eyes, and he quickly wiped them away.

Trying to keep the quaver out of his voice, Jack spoke to Tosh, authoritatively. "Get the tracker implanted in Ianto from Torchwood One online. We need to know where he is. Then we need to go and get him."

"I'm already doing that," said Tosh, as she began to work with the handheld she always carried. "I should have the signal soon."

"We need it in ten minutes." stated Jack.

"Wait, you're planning to go in there without a plan, Jack. That's bollocks!" exclaimed Owen.

"As much as I hate to agree," said Gwen. "Owen's right. It's not smart to let your emotions get in the way of the job."

Jack turned on Gwen, his face contorted with anger. "And what about Rhys?" he asked. Gwen winced. "Remember when we were trying to save that creature and they had him? Remember how I told you not to surrender yourself? And because you did, that man almost shot Ianto. He would have shot Ianto if it hadn't been for the absence of bullets. And you know why I didn't punish you for insubordination? Because you were following your emotions, Gwen. That's the one thing I love about 21st century humans is their unfailing ability to follow emotions. And now, I'm going to act every bit like a 21st century human and follow my emotions. And don't you tell me otherwise."

For a few seconds, everyone stared at him in stunned silence. Even the Flock, who hadn't know him for very long, did not expect this long speech of emotion. Not from Jack Harkness. Then, at the risk of having her head bit off, Max stepped forward.

"Look, Jack. I really do believe that Owen and Gwen are right." She cut off his protest. "Before you interrupt me, hear me out." He nodded, and let Max continue. "Now, a few months ago, Angel was kidnapped by the School." The Flock shuddered at the memory. "I was distraught over losing her. She was too young to be subjected to the torture. But we had to plan. We couldn't go after them right away, they had machine guns and we weren't bulletproof. So I had to wait. And we ended up getting her back, alive."

Jack sighed. Really, he didn't have much of a choice. He could go in there and rescue Ianto, guns-a-blazing and get killed several times. In the end, it probably wouldn't accomplish anything. But if he took time to plan, there would be a possibility that he could get in and out with minimal damage to himself and his team.

"Ok team," he motioned to Torchwood. "Let's get a plan to rescue our archivist."

"And we are helping too," said Max.

Jack looked at her skepitcally. "Not that I don't think you could handle yourselves, but Ianto said not to let them get to you. I'm not planning on going against him. He risked his life trying to protect you. It's not going to be in vain."

"Yeah, but don't you think it would be smart to take the people who know what they are doing?" said Fang. "We've fought Erasers plenty of times, always managed to come out of it alive. That says something."

Jack nodded thoughtfully. "Fine." he said. "But only you and Max." he said to Fang. "The rest of you will stay in the SUV with Dr. Harper."

"No fair," grumbled Owen. "Why do I have to be stuck babysitting?"

"Because we need someone in the SUV covering us and you can't heal, remember?" said Tosh.

"Yeah, yeah, let's make the bloody plan to rescue tea-boy already." came his mumbled reply.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

Ianto groaned as he came to. The back of his head, where he had fallen on the pavement, hurt like hell, as did the side of his face. He gingerly reached up to touch the four parallel slash marks, coated in dried blood.

_Wow, dried blood,_ he thought. _I must have been out for quite some time._

Slowly, Ianto blinked, trying to focus his eyes on his surroundings. He felt like he was in a box. Then he saw the gridded screen in front of him.

A bloody dog crate, like the one that Max had talked about. They put him in a bloody dog crate!

He immediately felt his pockets for anything useful. _Crap_, he thought. They took his jacket. Now all he was wearing was his dress shirt. With absolutely no weapons of any sort.

"Hey," came the gruff voice. "Welsh boy's awake." Within moments, the crate was being wrenched open and a gun was shoved in his face.

"This will go into your shoulder if you try any funny business."

Ianto let out a weak laugh. They would go for the shoulder. An move that would incapacitate the opponent, yet leave them alive. Exactly why he had shot Owen there.

"This isn't a joke," growled the voice as Ianto crawled out, carefully showing his hands. As soon as he was out of his crate, he was seized roughly by the shirt and dragged to a single chair. There, his hands were tied behind the chair. _Rope_, he thought. _How mundane. Better start untying so when Jack comes bursting in, I'll be ready to fight. Not that Jack would bother to come and get a lowly teaboy like me. But it's good to have hope. No matter what happens, I will have hope._ To his dismay, however, the rope was too tightly woven around his hands. It was nearly cutting of circulation to his fingers.

"So, Ianto, that's your name isn't it?" said a silky voice.

Ianto jerked his head up, surprised. He was not expecting this. In front of him sat a rather handsome man. He nodded distrustfully.

"We just need to know the exact location of the winged kids. We don't want to hurt you. Just tell us how to get to them."

So he was one of them. The Flock had said how Erasers were attractive when they shifted in their human form. 'Male models,' Max had said.

"I'm not going to tell you anything." insisted Ianto. "They've not done anything wrong and yo've got not right to take them back to that place. They don't need to be experimented on. And you don't have to put on the facade. I know what you are, an Eraser."

Ianto watched in horrific fascination as the change began to take place right in front of him. The attractive features on the man's face began to form into that of a wolf, while hair grew from his arms and claws appeared instead of fingernails. Less attractive then the human form, but definitely much more attractive than a Weevil. If Owen knew his thoughts, he would be having a field day. "Threesomes with Jack, and an Eraser" he would have said. Ianto smiled slightly.

A hard slap brought him out of his reverie. "Like I said before." snarled the Eraser. "This isn't funny. We gave you a chance, Ianto Jones. A chance to get out of this nicely, with less pain. But you've chosen the hard way."

"I'll die either way," stated Ianto, as bravely as he could muster. "If I told you what you needed to know you would just kill me."

"Yes, but it would be a nice death. Quick and painless as possible." purred the wolf man. "Now, you are going to give us the information through torture and then we are going to torture you some more." It's wolf-like features contorted into a horrible grin.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

"Tosh, you still locked onto his signal?" asked Jack as the whole team met in the conference room.

"Yeah," replied Tosh. "I've got it withing 20 feet accuracy. They are at some abandoned storage lockers down by the wharf. He hasn't moved for almost 10 minutes."

"At least they didn't go far." mused Jack. He was starting to get antsy. It has been 20 minutes since they had taken Ianto. Jack didn't want more harm to come to him than necessary.

Owen and Gwen came rushing up from the armory. "We've got the most effective weapons to bring with us." said Owen as he piled the guns onto the table. "Don't worry," he said, when he saw the look of concern from Tosh for being so callous with the weapons. "They all have their safeties on."

"Ok," said Jack. "Let's get focused. So the storage units are towards the center of the cluster." he pointed to the satellite image Tosh had pulled up on the screen. "There are guards here, here and here." he pointed to the orange images of the thermal satellites. "We will try to incapacitate the first wave of guards without drawing to much attention. Max and Fang, you'll take the two Erasers on the left. Gwen, you come in from the right. Tosh, from the back and I'll charge in through the front. Any questions?"

"Yeah," piped up Owen. "What'll I be doing, besides babysitting?"

"Be on standby as a getaway car for us. Also, have basic emergency kits available. We don't know how bad off Ianto is going to be."

"Well, let's do this." said Max, over enthusiastically. She was really itching to kick some Eraser butt. "Planning's all good and done, there's a coffee boy that needs saving."

"You're right." said Jack. He grabbed several guns off the pile on the table, then stalked out with a dramatic flair as his coat swirled behind him.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOO TORCHWOOD

Ianto Jones was miserable. The scratches down the side of his face were stinging. Someone had rubbed antiseptic down the side of his face to clean his wounds and it stung like hell. He didn't know why they had bothered. Soon, the Erasers were planning to start his torture. But before that, for some reason, they had simply decided to roughly shove him back into the tiny dog crate. _Really,_ he thought. _I'm a fully grown man. This is completely unreasonable._

He heard them whispering, in conspiritial tones. He couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but he knew it had something to do with him, judging from the way they were looking at him. Finally, the muttering stopped, which unsettled Ianto. That meant that any moment the torture was going to start. He'd be able to handle it probably for the first 30 minutes. Then, the pain would be worse than the time at Brecon Beacons and he would probably pass out.

Once more, he was dragged to the chair and tied down at gun point.

"Now, I'll ask you once more, how do we get to the kids?" growled the Eraser.

"And that'll save me?" asked Ianto, dubiously.

"Not from death, but from torture."

"I'll go with the torture." was Ianto's reply.

The Eraser leered. "Very well, at your insistence."

He flexed his clawed hands, and Ianto realized, with dismay, that he was going to be used as a personal punching bag.

"Untie him." commanded the approaching Eraser to the one with the gun. "And keep the gun trained on him."

The gun totting Eraser obeyed, and Ianto found himself roughly shoved to his feet, free of his bindings.

He was just getting adjusted to standing up, when suddenly, the Erasers fist punched him in the stomach. He doubled over in pain and attempted to catch his breath. As he righted himself, he once again found the clawed paw, open this time, swinging at him, and he stepped out of the way so that it only slightly made contact with his stomach. Four red lines appeared on his shirt where the claws had passed by. Nearly collapsed from weakness, Ianto stumbled towards the chair, attempting to use it for support. He was whacked upside the head by the advancing Eraser, who was clearly enjoying himself. Had he not had a concussion from the fall to the pavement, the blow to the head would not have incapacitated him so much. Ianto wasn't sure how much longer he could take of the abuse. As he fell to the floor from a vicious kick, he was suddenly aware of the door bursting open and the sound of gun shots. He heard three thuds from bodies hitting the ground.

It took Ianto a moment to realize that the abuse had stopped. He opened his eyes to see both Erasers with bullets in between their eyes. Then the third body. He saw the RAF coat and instantly knew.

"Jack," he mumbled as he crawled over to the prone figure. He knew that Jack was dead, just as he knew he was going to come back, but that didn't lessen the pain of seeing him there, lifeless and dull eyes staring vacantly into the distance.

Ianto didn't even notice the sound of Gwen and Tosh arriving, along with Max and Fang. A minute later, the rest of the Flock and Owen had joined when Tosh had communicated that there was no more threat. Owen instantly began trying to check Ianto out for the injuires, but he refused.

"I'm staying with Jack." he mumbled steadfastly.

Max felt a wave of pity. Canary Wharf, Lisa, the torture and now this. The death of yet another loved one. Surprisinlgly, Ianto wasn't showing the kind of grief expected of a lover. Maybe they weren't that close. But then, as Max looked around, she began to get suspicious. Gwen, Owen, even Tosh, who Max had suspected to be pretty emotional, weren't so much as shedding a tear. She looked back at the dead body of Jack Harkness and jumped back in surprise. The bullet hole, which had been so prominent before, was rapidly shrinking. Within moments, there was no evidence of the bullet wound except the blood. A loud gasp came from the previously dead corpse, and Jack sat up, eyes wide open. Immediately, he turned to Ianto.

"You're ok?" he asked, worriedly.

"We would know if he let me check him over." said Owen. "But he insisted on waiting till you came back."

"Fine, fine." said Jack. "Do it now."

"Jack, I'm fine," Ianto protested as Owen began pressing at various places on his body. "Really, just some-." He gasped as Owen pressed his side.

"Just as I thought. Bruised or possibly broken ribs." said Owen. Then Ianto tried standing up, but swayed and would have fallen over if Jack hadn't caught him. "As well as a concussion. Those scratches on the side of his face will need stitches."

"Owen, don't." protested Ianto. "Max and Fang have some injuries. Check them out first. I just need a lie down. Really."

"Far from that," replied Owen. "I'm your doctor and I say you need a lot more than that. What did they do to you anyway? Use you as a personal punching bag."

"Basically," muttered Ianto. They had started to walk towards the SUV, and Jack kept trying to pick him up. "You are not carrying me Jack! I'm walking."

"Why would they take you in the first place?" asked Gwen.

"They wanted the Flock." replied Ianto. "They knew I was associated with them. They wanted information for how to get to them. That's why they started hitting me. When I wouldn't tell them, they figured they would beat me till I told them."

"Oh my gosh!" said Nudge. "I'm so sorry they hurt you cause of us."

"It's fine," he said. "Really. Sad to say this, but I've had worse."

Max spoke up. "You know, this is great and all, but I think we're missing a really big point here. Like how our Captain Jack Harkness, who was very dead a few minutes ago, is now alive and walking and in perfect help."

Jack smiled nervously. "Yeah, about that. I'm immortal." The Flock gasped and looked at him. Even Fang, who was always so composed, could keep the shock off his face. "

"You mean, you can't die?" asked Gazzy. "Like at all?"

"Well, that's where it gets tricky." replied Jack. "I can die, I just don't stay dead. And I don't age quickly either."

"So, exactly how old are you?" asked Max.

"Over 100 years old. Not sure of the exact age. Though, it's kind of hard to say."

"Why would that be?" inquired Fang.

"Well, see here," said Jack. "I'm not exactly from here."

"You think?" asked Max. "We kinda noticed, from the accent."

"Yeah, not like that exactly. I'm not from this time. I was born in the 51st century." said Jack.

Silence once again fell on the Flock. "But how are you here then?" asked Iggy.

"Time travel," stated Jack.

"There's no such thing," scoffed Max.

"Really?" said Jack in disbelief. "After what you've just seen, your going to tell me there's no such thing? Not every day you find an immortal."

Suddenly, a voice interrupted the conversation between Jack and the Flock. "We really do need to get going," said Owen. "Teaboy here isn't in the best shape and I'd like to get him to the Hub."

Jack was all action. "Of course," he said as he sprang to his feet. "All right, everyone, in the SUV."

"But wait," asked Gwen. "What about the Erasers?"

"It's fine," said Fang. "We left one alive. He'll call in backup and they'll clean up their own mess. They don't want the population finding out about them anymore than we do right now."

"Well then," said Jack. "What are we waiting for? Back to the Hub!"

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><p><em>Jack: I seem very heroic here. Dying for Ianto and all.<em>

_Me: Yeah, yeah. We all get it. You're a hero, you're amazing. Anyone would be lucky to have you. _

_Jack: I know!_

_Me: And I'm just inflating your ego, aren't I?_

_Jack: Pretty much. _

_Me: But that's not important right now. What's important is that this chapter was written in a burst of knowledge, so that's why I'm updating so soon. _

_Jack: You have really insane updates. Never know when they are going to be posted._

_Me: But know, with you as my muse, maybe I'll do better._

_Jack: So, you want them to read and review, huh?_

_Me: Precisely. Orders from Captain Jack Harkness himself. That should get some reviews. Hopefully. Otherwise, it might take me an even longer time to finish this story and I'll have to keep Jack in that closet even longer._

_Jack: So please review!_


	11. Aftershocks

Jack: So, what's up with the koala in your closet?

Me: Wait, what? *grabs for koala* Give that back! That's supposed to be hidden!

Jack: *hold koala out of reach* Why?

Me: Look at me. People might start to question my sanity if they found out I kept koala bears in my closet.

Jack: I think it's normal. He's cute, by the way.

Me: It's a she! Her name's Karambit. Don't ask. It's a long story. Which I'm not prepared to tell you yet.

Jack: Whatever, girl, boy, its all the same.

Me: It's a koala!

Jack: John was attracted to poodles.

Me: This is why I can't trust you to be a judge of sanity. Who are you, a man who finds koalas attractive, to tell me that I'm normal for keeping one in my closet?

Jack: *nods* You have a point.

Me: You bet I do, now give her to me.*motions with hand*

Jack: No, I like her, I want to keep her.

Me: Will it stop you from being annoying?

Jack: For a little while. Enough time for you to write another chapter.

Me: Fine, keep it, play with it. As long as you stop asking for play dates with Will.

Jack: I like Will.

Me: You've never met him.

Jack: I know, but I bet he's cute.

Me: No. *slaps*

Jack: Ow. What was that slap for?

Me: You are not allowed to flirt remember.

Jack: It's my nature. You can't expect me to do these author's notes without flirting.

Me: Fine, I guess you're right. It would be no fun if Jack wasn't acting like Jack.

Jack: Speaking of which, I'm not very much like myself in this next part, am I?

Me: Shut up! That's how you are going to be. This is meant to be a very Jantoy(is that a word? If not, it's a words now.) scene. Very sappy.

Jack: You know I don't do sappy.

Me: Oh, grow a romantic bone in your body!

Jack: Well, it's not a BONE, to be precise. Close though.

Me: Shut it, Jack. This is a T-rated story. Can't have you making obscene comments. With that, before you say anything else to scar our viewers, let the story begin.

Jack: Oh, and she wants to thank **_Wings-and-a-Fez_** as well as **_zorua_** for their continuing support. You're great people!

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><p>Back at the Hub, Owen was able to see the full extent of Ianto's injuries. He determined Ianto had a mild concussion, as well as several bruised ribs and a sprained ankle from when he fell to the floor while being beaten by the Eraser. In addition, his face was colored from the various bruises and still had the pattern of the four slash marks of the Eraser claws. Those four marks also appeared on his stomach.<p>

In retrospect, Ianto thought he was pretty lucky. He had come out of this alive and he was far from fatally injured. Jack, on the other hand, was taking it way too seriously.

While on Ianto was on the autopsy table, the Flock insisted on being near him. Nudge was especially protective of him, holding his hand while Owen stitched the side of his face up.

"26 stitches," said Owen, when he had finished.

Nudge smiled weakly at Ianto, "You beat me," she said in reference to the number of stitches she had received.

He only was able to nod slightly in response, to tired from the pain killers Owen had given him to respond. As he began to loll his head forward, Jack pushed past Max, who had been holding him back, trying to let Nudge spend the time with Ianto.

"Ianto, you alright?" he asked, worry in his voice. "It doesn't still hurt, does it?"

"Jack...bed...tired" were the only words Jack could pick up from Ianto's mumbles. He then proceeded to mumble something in Welsh and completely collapsed. Had Jack not caught him, he would have fallen to the floor.

"Owen, I think I'm going to take him to bed." said Jack. "If you are done checking him over, that is."

"Yeah, the painkillers I gave him should keep him out for a while." said Owen.

Jack gently picked up Ianto, like one would carry a sleeping child and began walking up the medical bay stairs. As he neared the top, Owen called out to him. "Don't leave him alone tonight, Jack. He might have nightmares from this, and he needs to have someone to restrict his movements."

"I never planned to have him leave the Hub," stated Jack.

Owen rolled his eyes. It was clear that Jack was going to take him down into the room in his office, which could only mean one thing. "No funny business while you're down there. Strictly sleep."

"Of course," said Jack. Owen looked at him in surprise. For once, there was no innuendo, no mentions of sex. And when Owen looked at Jack's expression, staring intently at the sleeping Welshman, he could only see care and concern, and some new emotion. One that Jack Harkness had never shown before. But Jack walked away, Ianto in his arms before Owen could pinpoint the exact expression.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

Ianto woke, sweating and shaking. Tears were streaming down his face and he shuddered at his most recent memory of the dream. Now Erasers could be added to the mix of creatures that kept him living in fear as he fell asleep each night. He let out a strangled sob, he wished Jack was there. Jack was never there. They had the sex, fell to the bed,if they had made it to the bed, thoroughly exhausted, then Jack would get up, make some excuse about the Rift needing watching and leave Ianto to deal with the constant dreams of terror and fear. That was if they ever went to his flat after a date. If they were just having sex at the Hub and they managed to make it to Jack's room, Jack would usually get up first, ready to head back up to the main Hub. Then Ianto would follow, only because it would be awkward if he stayed in Jacks bed without Jack. But on the nights after Jack had left his flat, Ianto would lie in bed for hours before falling asleep: wishing and wanting more than anything that for once, Jack would stay.

And now, as he lay in bed alone, Ianto came to realize something frightening. That he should stop wishing and wanting. Because it was fruitless. Jack didn't want something like cuddling. Jack would never want to spend the night. Because that would mean that their relationship would begin to mean something, and Jack couldn't have that. And Ianto understood, but it didn't make it hurt any less, didn't make the nightmares any less worse.

When Ianto's tears finally began to let up, he began to feel around for the telltale box of tissues he kept on his nightstand. Only his hand met the wall. Ianto's bed was in the middle of the room, there was no wall to the side of his bed. But there was by Jacks. Ianto sat bolt upright. His suspicions were confirmed as he looked around the room. It was in fact jacks. He must not have taken Ianto home after the painkillers set in. Ianto realized at that moment that Jack had in fact undressed him as well. Ianto felt completely horrible. He was probably such a burden on Jack.

As he attempted to roll out of bed, Ianto gasped in pain and looked down at his had said something about bruised ribs and stitches. Well Ianto was just going to have to be more careful.

He had just gotten out of bed and was pulling on his bloody, shredded pants, when Jack came down the hole. When the immortal saw him, a flash of emotion which Ianto couldn't quite place flashed across his face.

"Sir, I'm s-sorry." stammered Ianto his face flushed. "I didn't mean to impose. Ill just get dressed and go home."

Jack quickly climbed down the ladder and approached Ianto. "you will do nothing of the sort." he said. "I'm sorry you had to wake up alone. I was planning to be here when you woke up but, as luck would have it, I happened to really need to use the bathroom."

While Jack was talking, he had firmly slipped Ianto's pants off of him and led him into the bed with only his boxers on. Jack then proceeded to take off his own clothing and slid under the covers, facing Ianto. It was then that he noticed the tear tracks down the side of Iantos face.

He wiped the wetness. "What happened Ianto?" he asked, his voice full with concern.

"Bad dreams, sir" said Ianto. "It's nothing, I'm used to it." There was an edge of bitterness to the tone of his voice at the last part of that sentence.

"Ianto?" asked Jack, clearly confused.

"Bad dreams every night for the past two years. Canary Wharf, Lisa, cannibals, the like." replied the welshman.

"But why didn't you tell me?" asked Jack.

"It really was of no concern for you sir," said Ianto. " You never asked and I assumed you didn't want to know."

"But why?" asked Jack. Of course he would want to know if his lover was having bad dreams. But Ianto hadn't known that Jack thought they were lovers.

"I just," stammered Ianto."I mean, you've lost so much. Telling you, would well, it would make us more emotional towards each other. I just assumed you didn't want the commitment and I didn't want to force you into it."

Oh Ianto, sweet loving Ianto. Wanting Jack for more than just sex, but not saying it because he knew that saying it might make things harder for Jack when he would have to leave again. "oh, Ianto" murmured Jack as he tenderly kissed his lips, the one unbruised part of his body. "I'm so sorry."

Ianto pulled back from the kiss. "You have nothing to be sorry for, sir. You have made your intentions clear since day one. Its my own fault for falling in love with you."

Jack looked at Ianto, surprised. Had he really said those words? "I'm sorry sir" stammered Ianto as he registered what he had just said and interpreted the look on Jacks face as disappointment. "I had no right to say that, I'm sorry."

He turned on his side, not wanting to see Jacks expression any longer. Here it was coming, the inevitable breakup. No more sex. Jack couldn't have any sort of emotional relationship so it would be over. But Ianto didn't want it to be.

Even though he knew that Jack didn't care for him like he did for Jack, he still could pretend. He could pretend that in between the innuendos and hot sex that there might be something that remotely resembled love. And if Ianto didn't even have that to hang on to, he didn't know how he was going to live.

"Oh, Ianto, you never knew," whispered Jack. "I'm so sorry."

"Like I said, sir, nothing to be sorry for," said Ianto, his voice tight with emotion.

"But there is," replied Jack, the sadness evident in his eyes. "I'm so sorry for leading you on like this."

Here it comes, thought Ianto. Here's the part where he tells me we have to stop seeing each other. But the next words that came out of Jack's mouth surprised Ianto.

"I should have told you the moment this relationship changed." sighed Jack. "I was just so afraid. I couldn't risk these feelings because I'm going to lose you some day, and I didn't know if I could survive losing someone I loved." Ianto gasped, but Jack put a finger to his lips and kept talking. "But today, when you were taken, I realized something. When I thought you might be dead, and I knew that I hadn't said it, it ripped a hole in me. Because our relationship could have been so much more, but I almost jeopardized it because of my fear. And now, I realize, that despite the fact that it'll hurt me to say it, I need to say it because it'll hurt me more if it goes unsaid."

Ianto was getting a little impatient. Jack was going on and on about his feelings, but Ianto's drug-addled brain really wasn't following. He could hear the words, they just weren't making sense to him. His brain was tuned into that key phrase "We're through." He wished Jack could get it over with and say it already, no need to prolong the inevitable.

"What are you trying to say, Jack?" asked Ianto, tiredly, as he once again attempted to extricate himself from the arms of the captain

Jack took a deep breath. "I love you Ianto Jones, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. I'm sorry you had to live thinking that you were just a part-time shag, because you're not. And I didn't want to admit it but I really truly love you. And I don't want to wait until you are dying to admit it."

Ianto stared at him, stunned. Even in his wildest, drug-induced dreams he had never thought that Jack could think that.

"Wow, Jack," murmured Ianto. "I honestly did not see that one coming."

Jack looked at Ianto expectantly. "I love you too, of course" said Ianto, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. And with those words, he pulled his lover into a kiss.

Lips met, mouths opened as each battle for dominance. They pulled apart, gasping for breath, only to dive back in. A small whimper escaped Ianto's lips as Jack accidentally elbowed his bruised rib. Instantly Jack pulled back.

"Jack," whined Ianto.

"No, Ianto," said Jack. "Not while you're hurt like this. Later, I promise," he finished with a whisper as he kissed his lover's forehead.

"But stay?" whispered Ianto, as he once again felt the drugs taking affect on him. He really didn't want to have to face the nightmares.

"As if I would ever leave," chuckled Jack. "You, Ianto Jones, are stuck with me." He gently wrapped an arm around Ianto and looked deep into his eyes. "Now sleep. I want you rested and healing from your injuries."

Ianto nodded as he slipped further into the oblivion. "Jack, I love you so much," he managed to murmur before falling completely unconscious.

"Oh, Ianto Jones, if only you knew how much I love you." whispered Jack in reply. He lay there, arms wrapped around the Welshman, deciding that he would stay there as long as Ianto would allow him to. Knowing Angel would be nearby, he let down his walls a tiny bit to send her a message.

Above in the Hub, Max noticed Angel smile contentedly, like she was reading someone's mind. That was a little concerning. Considering that there were two grown men, lovers, in the Hub who could be having very interesting thoughts right now, Max would rather not have Angel scarred.

"Honey whose mind are you reading?" asked Max.

"Jack's," she said with a smile.

"I thought you couldn't read Jack's mind, he had barriers." said Max, confused but excited at the breakthrough. Finally, they could read his mind.

"Oh no, it's not like that," said Angel, reading Max's thoughts. "He's just projecting a really strong thought right now, and not trying to keep it hidden. Like he's trying to talk to me."

"Well, what did he say?" asked Max.

"Thank you," said Angel. "He said thanks and that he said it."

"Said what?" asked Max.

"He said 'I love you' to Ianto and Ianto said it back." smiled Angel. "I told Jack to tell him."

Max smiled. Not often did she see love happen. She might be a tough, street smart fighter, but that didn't mean she was heartless. Love, something so close yet so far.

"You should tell him, you know." said Angel to Max. Max looked at her, eyebrows in a questioning arch.

"Fang," she said. "He feels the same way too. And you were right, you don't have enough time to waste by tiptoeing around each other. Sooner or later you'll have to say it, and it should be sooner rather that later, when it might be too late."

* * *

><p>Me: Yay! All you Fax lover's are hopefully holding your breaths. I will try to work this in, as well as Total, as soon as possible. So maybe it wasn't so good, but whatever, I tried.<p>

Jack: She tried a lot of things, not all worked. Like making me comfortable.

Me: What are you talking about? You have a pillow and everything. Not that you actually sleep.

Jack: Exactly. So I'm held captive all day inside a tiny closet.

Me: It's actually decent-sized!

Jack: Not for a fully grown man! Plus there are other -ahem- needs I need seen to.

Me: Jack, seriously! Now is not the time nor the place. Like I said, this is T-rated!

Jack: Yeah, yeah, let's just get this over with so I don't have to be trapped in this infernal closet. I might just kill myself.

Me: Which would do no good because you would just come back and have me to deal with. You know I wouldn't want you to mess up my closet.

Jack: Yeah, but it would be a nice escape.

Me: Oh, shut up! Anyway, so hope you liked this. I realized there was not much Flock in it. I dedicated this to Janto(Jack/Ianto) because they are my favorite pairing of all time. So, read this and remember, all writing and no reviews makes a sad writer. We can't have me be sad, can we?

A/N I just wanted to add that it goes fairly AU in terms of relationships here. I know Fang and Max don't actually get together for awhile, but whatever, I felt like they should. Plus, it is my story, so...


	12. It's a Type of Deer

Me: Good news for all you readers! I'm planning that this story will go VERY long(That's a weird sentence structure, sorry.) There is no foreseeable end to this story, so it will just keep going and going as long as you keep the reviews coming.

Jack: NOOOOO! I have to stay here forever!

Me: Oh, don't worry, not forever. Just until I finish that story, or I die.

Jack: hmmm

Me:Stop that.

Jack: *Looks innocent* Who, me? I'm not doing anything.

Me:*sarcastic eye roll* Yeah right. I can see you plotting to kill me. I'll have you know, if I do die under mysterious circumstances(aka, not of old age) I will have one of my fanfiction buddies take over this story, with you as help for the A/N notes. So think very carefully before you try anything on me.

Jack: Damn, now I wish the Master's laser screwdriver hadn't been lost.

Me: You bet you do, because now your going to be stuck with me for a VERY long time.

Jack: UGH.

Me: But I've been so kind to you. I've given you everything. Except your freedom, of course, but then where would I be with my A/Ns?

Jack: Well you could-

Me: No. Like I said, you are not getting anyone into that closet with you. My clothes are there!

Jack: Humph. Why'd the Doctor agree to take me here anyway?

Me: He owes me a favor. Oh yeah, he also messed with your Vortex Manipulator strap so that it won't let you leave these coordinates. And don't bother trying to take it off.

Jack: Damn that Doctor!

Me: You know you love him.

Jack: I do, don't I?

Me: Yeah, but not as much as Ianto. Hence the previous scene.

Jack: Yeah...though not as hot as I would have liked it to be.

Me: T-rating, Jack! T-rating! Plus Ianto was all bruised and hurt. Like I was going to have him to anything. But I think it's time to get to the story.

Jack: Fine. Our beloved *cough cough* writer would like to thank **_zorua_**_, **Wing-and-a-Fez, **and** feather1 **_for commenting.

Me: Yeah, it's you guys that keep me going! I would also like to apologize for the long wait. I was having writers' block.

Jack: She will also be gone for the next two weeks, so no updates.

Me: Yeah, sorry about that. I don't yet know if I will be getting internet where I am going. So no updates. I will try to write while I'm away so when I get back I'll just have to type it up.

Jack: I'll get to be alone!

Me: Haha, that's what you think. I'm sneaking you onto the plane using that TARDIS key necklace the Doctor let me borrow.

Jack: At least I'll get out of this bloody closet.

Me: And you get a nice hotel closet instead!

Jack: Damn.

Me: Watch your language!

Jack: You're impossible.

Me: That's why you love me.

Jack: I don't though.

Me: You will learn to because you are going to be spending A LOT of time with me.

Jack: Oh, like-

Me: No, not like that! Honestly, Jack, gutter mind!

Jack: Nope, just a fifty-first century mind.

Me: Sure, whatever you say. Now on with the story.

Jack: And she would also like to add that she does not own Maximum Ride or Torchwood.

Me: Yes, and there is a slight spoiler for the episodes of Torchwood: "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang", "Meat", and "Reset". Now enjoy!

* * *

><p>Chapter 12<p>

Ianto Jones woke that morning with a pleasurable feeling through his entire body. Jack was still there, spooning Ianto, his strong arms resting across Ianto's chest. Although he was aching, Ianto felt a sense of warmth engulf him. He really couldn't believe what Jack had said last night, it was still something he thought could have been a dream. But now, in bed with Jack, Ianto could tell that it had happened, because when was the last time Captain Jack Harkness slept, just slept, with Ianto?

He looked at the clock, surprised to see that it was already past 9:00 am, which meant the team was all in. And he wasn't up, which meant that they hadn't had their coffee. _And the kids!_ he thought. _They need taking care of._

He started to quietly slip out of Jack's arms, only to have them tighten their hold around him.

"Where do you think you're going?" came the voice of Jack Harkness. "Owen prescribed bed rest."

"Which I got," said Ianto. "The pain killers are working just fine, and I've slept for long enough. I need to go up there and make sure everything is taken care of."

"It'll be fine," mumbled Jack. "The Hub isn't going to fall apart if you are gone for a few hours."

"It might," deadpanned Ianto. "I'm not sure if Tosh and Gwen can survive without my coffee, and I'm pretty sure they'll need something from the archives sooner or later, and I don't need them messing it up."

"No," growled Jack, playfully. "You are staying here, in this bed, with me."

"Jack, you know I can't," said Ianto. "I'm not the type of person who can lay around all day doing nothing. I will literally go insane."

"What about when you were sick?" asked Jack. "And I forced you to stay at home. What did you do those days?"

"Cleaned up my flat, reorganized what needed reorganizing. I also did a bunch of paperwork for Torchwood that I had brought home." replied Ianto promptly. "I'm telling you, Jack, I need to work. I promise I won't exert myself, I'll just do some paperwork and organization in the archives. And of course, make coffee."

"Fine," sulked Jack. "But if you are getting up, then so am I."

"Oh Jack, you don't have-" protested Ianto before he was cut off.

"Yes, I do," replied Jack as he swung out of bed and began pulling his clothes on. "No way am I letting anyone give me hell for staying in bed while my injured employee and lover goes around keeping Torchwood going."

"Oh, Jack," said Ianto as he followed Jack out of bed. "I don't keep it going, that's you, our fearless, immortal leader."

Jack laughed, then turned to Ianto to give him a quick peck on the lips. "You are very mistaken in that aspect, Jones, Ianto Jones. Without you, we wouldn't be able to run half as well as we normally do. For one, we would probably all kill each other from being caffeine deprived."

"Except Owen," said Ianto, smiling.

"Yeah, he'd just be standing on the sidelines laughing as we went mad." mused Jack.

"Guess you do need me," said Ianto.

"For coffee and so much more," smiled Jack in return.

"Yeah, now let's get back up to the Hub. Where did this suit come from anyway?" he gestured to the new clothes he was wearing.

"Oh, I had Tosh bring it up from the lockers," replied Jack. "I couldn't leave you."

"Except to go to the men's room," joked Ianto. Secretly though, he was pleased that Jack had because it led to the declaration of love for the two men.

"Yeah, well it's not my fault there isn't one down here," pouted Jack.

"Yes, I know," agreed Ianto. "Now, seriously, we need to get up there before the world ends."

"Of course," said Jack. "Because the world couldn't run without Ianto Jones."

"And don't you forget that," said Ianto as he began climbing the ladder. After he reached the top, a thought suddenly occurred to him. "Jack?" he asked, a questioning note in his voice as he looked down the ladder Jack was currently climbing up. "How did you get me down there last night?"

Jack reached the top and fully climbed out of the manhole before he answered. "Well, you were semiconscious and with Owen's help, I managed to get you safely down into the bed."

"How safely?" questioned Ianto as they headed out into the main Hub. "How many bruises have I got you to thank for?" But his eyes were sparkling, so Jack knew he was joking.

Then, Jack's expression turned serious, then sad. "Every single one," he heavily admitted.

Ianto looked at Jack sternly. "Stop that Jack, right now. That attack wasn't your fault and you know it." Jack opened his mouth to speak but Ianto cut him off. "None of it is. I made my own decisions, I'm a grown man. We may be your team and you may be responsibly for us, but that doesn't mean that everything is your fault."

Jack looked at him mournfully, "But-"

"But you could have been slower and I would be dead. You reacted quickly enough so I got away with minor injuries. I wouldn't have this any other way. I don't care if you said you love me, that doesn't give you an excuse to treat me like some sort of china doll."

"Fine," Jack nodded his head. "But I want you only in the Hub until Owen clears you for more field work."

"Alright, Jack, seems like a fair compromise. But no telling Owen to extend my desk duty, or it'll be decaf for you."

"I wouldn't dream of it," said Jack.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

Max felt gratitude towards Ianto. She really didn't expect him to stand up to the torture, she expected him to be like every other adult: only interested in their own benefits.

Nudge walked up to Max. "Max, are we going to be staying here?" she asked. "Because I was thinking, these people are nice, they give us food and shelter and they don't wanna experiment on us. And those are like, big pluses. And plus my dad, my REAL dad is here and he seems pretty nice. I mean, he withstood torture to keep us safe. And maybe it was keeping the team safe, but the Erasers wanted us and he didn't give them any info. And I was thinking, they are so high tech here and they could help us bring down Itex. Tosh was showing me how she hacked into Itex's website and how it showed all their experiments and stuff. She acted really mad, and I was thinking, even though they mostly deal with aliens, there was this one time with the cannibals so maybe they wouldn't mind helping with Itex."

"Yeah, Nudge, that'd be fine," said Max, smiling at the chatty girl. Max looked over to the other kids. Fang seemed mostly comfortable, though with him it was impossible to tell. Iggy and Gazzy were having a field day with Owen, who although wasn't specialized in explosives seemed to enjoy talking about them nonetheless. Likewise, the boys weren't into all the medical stuff but seemed genuinely interested.

"Hey Max," said Gazzy as he ran up to her. "Owen want's to take us down to the Weevils. He said we could feed Janet!"

"The weevil," said Owen to clarify Max's thoughts.

"But isn't that dangerous?" asked Max.

"Well, yeah, but I'll go in first. Weevils hate me. Part of the whole undead thing." Owen said. "I'll explain later," he added when he saw the look of confusion. "Basically, they are safe from the Weevil as long as they don't try to crawl into its mouth."

"Fine, go feed that alien, or whatever," said Max. They were, after all, old enough to look after themselves.

"Yes!" crowed Iggy in satisfaction. "Feeding a real live alien!"

"Don't get eaten," said Nudge, a bemused expression on her face.

"Ha, you would like that, wouldn't you?" teased Gazzy.

"Hmm, no more Gasman," Nudge pretended to think it over. Gazzy just stuck his tongue out at her before running after Owen.

Considering that Nudge and Angel were having a fun time with Tosh, who was showing them the in's and out's of computer programming, Max decided to go and have a talk with Fang.

He was lounging on the couch as she approached him, and Max collapsed onto the couch, joining him.

"So, you think they're alright, huh?" she asked. Max may have been the leader, but that didn't mean that sometimes she took into account the rest of the Flock's opinions. Of course, this was a Maxocracy so every final decision was hers, but she still would hear people out, even if she didn't end up listening to them. Also, Fang being one of the older kids, he was someone Max had grown to respect. Heck, if she wasn't around, HE would probably be leader. Being Fang, he had been happy enough to let Max take the lead.

"Yeah, they're fine," said Fang. "The rest of the Flock seems to like them enough."

"But what about you?" Max pressed.

Fang shrugged. "Well, that dude Ianto's nice enough. I mean, he got us clothes and good food and stuff. And he seems to genuinely care about Nudge." He began to speak in a menacing tone. "He better treat her well while we are here. I saw her excitement at finding her 'mom'. If he disappoints her.." his voice trailed off.

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly. Though I don't think that's going to happen. I confronted him the other day about it, he seemed to truly care about her. I don't think he's going to hurt her intentionally. But then, you can't trust adults." Max added the last bit in a bitter tone. Time and time again, she had been proven right in that aspect.

"As for the others, Jack's ok. A bit bossy, but I suppose thats how it is when you are the leader." he looked meaningfully at Max, smiling at the same time.

"Wait, are you saying that I'm bossy?" Max exclaimed, feigning hurt.

"Oh, you and Jack are complete copies in terms of your leadership. Did you see how pissed he was at those Erasers. It was as bad as the time they took Angel."

"Yeah, but Angel's not my *ahem* you know, lover" Max added uncomfortably. "Well, moving on," she said, breaking the uncomfortable conversation. "What about Owen, Tosh, Gwen?"

"Well, Owen's certainly an interesting person. He's a complete asshole to be honest, but he's also a decent doctor. Definitely needs to work on his bedside manners. But I feel like he's a good enough of a guy. We can trust him, for the time being. Tosh is really nice, it seems like. A bit shy, and not very cruel. But she can be vicious. I saw her take out an Eraser. Brutal. And then there's Gwen. She's certainly kind enough. Very caring person, very emotional." he finished. "But I feel we should keep an eye on her. Emotions can make people do crazy things."

"I agree," nodded Max. Just then, they heard Ianto calling from the boardroom.

"Tosh's going to brief us on what she discovered about Itex." he said to them as they looked up. Then he turned on his comm, supposedly to tell Owen and Jack the same thing.

Within 20 minutes the whole team and the Flock had gathered inside the boardroom. Ianto went around handing out coffees and waving off Jack's protests. Once everyone had been settled, Tosh walked to the front of the room.

"Itex, or Itexicon, is an organization with branches all over the world, but its head is in Germany. The School, which our Flock is from, and the Institute, which is what Angel heard the scientists thinking, are just two branches of this world wide organization. Now, I hacked into their research database, easier than the military by the way," Ianto smiled as he remembered the time Tosh hacked into the military to help stop the alien invasion on earth. She continued, "And what I found was concerning." At these words she pulled up something on the screen so everyone could see. 'The 1 in 10 plan' came onto the screen in bright red letters. "Basically, this corporation is planning to kill nine-tenths of the population of the world, leaving only those people who are 'useful' to survive in the modern day world. People like doctors, carpenters, scientists, army men would be considered useful in the new world, while politicians, pop stars, and psychics would be eliminated. Basically, if what you do doesn't benefit the advancement of the human race, then you are toast. Also, any people with weaknesses, illnesses or genetic mutations that would not benefit the gene pool would be killed."

"Well, we could do with no politicians," commented Jack, smiling.

"Yeah, but wiping them all out is a bit extreme, isn't it?" asked Gwen.

"That's what they are planning to do though," said Tosh. "A new age, in which humanity is nearly perfect, with nothing to hold them back. And apparently, they are looking to create even more human hybrids. Lists and lists appeared when I was searching. There were humans mixed with mammals, reptiles, you name it. And some of them were successful. But that's not important. We've got to figure out what to do about the fact they plan to kill nine-tenths of the world."

Jack stood up. "Now, normally we wouldn't handle this kind of stuff, you know. Non-extraterrestrial. Or we would dump it on Unit. Us being so small we don't normally take down world wide corporations. But seeing as we can't have Unit finding out about these kids just yet, we probably should do something about it. Tosh," he looked at her. "You said that their base is in Germany, correct?" She nodded. "So, instead of going for one of the weaker heads, like the School or the Institute, we'll just go for the head. Find the leader."

"The Director," cut in Tosh.

"What?" asked Jack.

"They call the leader of Itex 'the Director'. And from what I gathered, it was a female." said Tosh.

"Oh, ok, so we'll just go for 'the Director'" then. Who knows, she might be a time lord." Ianto laughed at this. Jack had told him about the Master, and the Doctor. Apparently, Time lords took titles beginning with 'the'. The rest of the team and the Flock looked at the two men strangely.

"So, how exactly to you plan on getting into the facility. Guns ablazing?" questioned Max.

"Seems like the best option." replied Jack.

"I don't think so," argued Max. "You might be able to handle a few Erasers, but being the head of the branch would mean there might be hundreds of Erasers there, maybe thousands. I know there were over a hundred at the School and that was only one small part of this organization."

"Alright, then what do you propose we do?" snapped Jack. He clearly didn't like his authority to be undermined.

"Let us go in, let them capture us," stated Max.

"No, abslutely-" Jack began, but was once again interrupted.

"Just hear me out, ok?" said Max. "You let us get captured, we get in and try to hurt them from the inside."

"You know," piped up Tosh. "That's actually a good idea. Plus, Itex has been collecting mutants from various scientific labs it has been funding. They want to 'retire' the old mutants which I interpreted to be lock away."

"It means to kill," stated Max flatly.

"What?" asked Tosh.

"Retire means kill. That's what they mean. So basically, they are going to take all the old mutants and kill them to make room for the new and improved hybrids."

Silence reigned. "That's horrible," Gwen finally said.

"That's the human race for you," spoke up Fang bitterly.

"Your telling me," said Owen. "I had to put down an alien because it was being tortured by humans for its meat. They saw a quick and cheap way to make money and they went for it. Poor thing was in pain up until the very end. The only thing I could do for it was kill it before it got hurt anymore."

The team recollected that horrible day, when the alien was the innocent one and the human was endangering it.

"So that's a go then?" asked Max. "Flock penetration into Itex."

"But we'll need some sort of way to communicate with you while you are in there." said Jack.

"Torchwood contacts!" said Owen. "The ones we gave Martha. When I-" he trailed off. More bad memories to go through.

"Yeah, that's great Owen," piped up Tosh.

"What are Torchwood contacts?" asked Nudge.

"I'll go get them," said Ianto from where he was sitting. As he moved to stand, Jack tried to sit him down; however, the death glare Ianto gave him was enough to have him back off.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

The Flock was impressed by the technology. Contact lenses that were electronically connected to the computer. How cool was that? As it turned out, there were actually quite a few pairs Ianto had stored away, so each member of the Flock was allowed to have one pair. All except Iggy, since he was blind, something he turned out to be a little bitter about. It was all made good though when Tosh promised to let him play with the next non-world ending object that came through the Rift.

Max looked around at her Flock. Despite the fact that they were about to get captured by a bunch of bloodthirsty wolf-men in order to infiltrate a top secret base in order to bring down an organization that was world-wide, they were extremely relaxed. She silently thanked Ianto once again for the clothes he had bought for the kids, as well as the food. She was still amazed how he had known their sizes perfectly, as well as their styles. Even the food choices were perfect, although that wasn't really saying much considering the kids would pretty much eat anything that wouldn't eat them first.

Angel was glad that Total wasn't here. They had left him at Dr. Martinez's house. His constant whining about all the traveling and the guns had prompted the team to leave him behind. They had just planned to investigate the leads they had. Besides, he could have been hurt. Angel had always loved the little dog, but she wasn't entirely sure that he was cut out for this work. Plus the pteranodon would probably try to eat him.

"When do you think we'll see Total again?" asked Angel.

"Who's Total?" asked Tosh.

"Our talking dog," replied Nudge without any hesitation.

"Mhmm," replied Tosh, clearly not knowing how to respond.

Owen on the other was estatic. "Talking dog? Seriously?" he exclaimed. "I need to see this. No, better than that, John needs to see this!"

The entire team smiled, recalling the Time Agents strange attraction to poodles.

"Where is he?" asked Jack, still smiling from Owen's comment.

"Oh, we dropped him off at some dog spa somewhere in town. He kept talking about poodles."

At this, the team could not help but erupt into a fit of giggles. One of the few good memories they had as a team, even if it was tainted a little, with John murdering that man and nearly blowing Gwen up.

"Well, we'll find him. Just look for strange reports of a talking dog," instructed the laughing Jack to Tosh. "Who is having an unnatural affinity towards poodles." Tosh smiled at that last comment as she began typing away, looking for reports.

"So kids," said Jack, rubbing his hands together and acting as gleeful as he had when he offered to take them weevil hunting. "Time to take down a worldwide corporation now, huh?"

* * *

><p>Me: AND that's a wrap.<p>

Jack: Finally, thought this was going to go on forever.

Me: I just wanted to write a little extra for my readers since it's been awhile since I last updated and my next update won't be for a while.

Jack: I'm just glad I get a rest from these A/Ns.

Me: Be grateful I'm not making you work on them the entire trip.

Jack: Woah, the ENTIRE trip? Does that mean that I will have to work on it for some of it?

Me: Well, it's not like being stuck in a hotel closet is any better than that. At least you get to do something.

Jack: Yes, because conversing with my crazy stalker captor is SOOO much fun. I really love it.

Me: Ha. Ha. Ha. Notice the lack of amusement in that laugh. You know, if you are good, maybe I'll let you out on the town a little while we are out. I mean, I'm not going to need you all the time and I don't need you scaring some poor maid who decides to clean out the closet. Perception filters don't make you invisible.

Jack: Yes! I've been trapped in this closet far too long. Some freedom would be good.

Me: Let's ask the reviewers. When you review what you thought of this story, also include whether or not Jack should be allowed a longer leash while on vacation. I'll be able to read comments while away, I just won't be able to publish any new chapters.

Jack: Review! Please! For the sake of your immortal captain's sanity!


	13. Infiltration

Me: So, there was a tie for if I should let Jack roam free during my vacation. I chose to let him do so, just because he's been reasonably well behaved.

Jack: Yes, SOOO much fun.

Me: What? Didn't you relish the freedom?

Jack: Sure that was fine. Getting mauled by a bear in the middle of the forest was not.

Me: I told you we were going to into the forest!

Jack: You didn't tell me about the abundance of malevolent wildlife. I swear those horses had it out for me.

Me: Well, to be fair to them, you did get in the way of their hay.

Jack: They could have gone AROUND me. They didn't have to go THROUGH me.

Me: Geez! You only died like twice! You're such a baby.

Jack: Well, it wasn't the dying that was the worst part. We were in the middle of the stinking forest!

Me: Hey, be nice. I rather like the smell of the forest.

Jack: But I thought we'd be in like Chicago or something. Where there'd be clubs.

Me:I showed you a bar.

Jack: Where there were middle-aged married men.

Me: That's not stopped you before. Plus, since when have you let age get in the way?

Jack: They had guns. And they did not take my advancements too well.

Me: So that's 3 deaths then.

Jack: 6. Every time I revived they just shot me again. Until I had the sense to stay quiet till they had left. Remind me never to visit the mid-west again.

Me: Well, you'll have no choice if I have to go back.

Jack: Whatever, can we just get on with the story. I'm sure the reader's don't care for hearing my exploits in the great mid-west.

Me: Fine, here's the story. Spoilers, _Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports. _Disclaimer: Don't own either of them. Special thanks to anyone whose reading this. And Voila!

* * *

><p>Chapter 13<p>

Max flew through the clear skies, enjoying the cool breeze ruffling through her feathers. It had been a while since she had been able to fly. Despite the fact that they were flying to their doom, the Flock was cheerful, in general. Of course, they couldn't show to much expectant fear, they were supposed to be naive. They were just flying to Germany on 'a hunch' Nudge had gotten from the computers.

The plan was to get captured and get taken to the main base of Itexicon. They would have to put up a fight, so as to not look suspicious, and the basic idea was to allow the entire Flock to get captured. The Torchwood team would be close by, tracking them and keeping tabs on their medical stats using the contact lenses. Which were just plain cool, in Max's opinion. Even with all the stuff she had seen in science labs at the School, she had never dreamed of aliens existing. Of course, looking back on it, it was silly. Believing in aliens would actually be easier than believing that somewhere, out there, there were some kids running around, and well, flying around.

The team had devised a series of hand motions to mean different things so that they could signal Torchwood if something went wrong. Hopefully, one of the Flock could make contact with some of the captured mutants and rally them into rebellion.

**THE FACILITY IS TWO MILES NORTH**

Max gasped as the words appeared in front of her. She still wasn't 100% used to the contacts. From the surprised exclamation of the rest of the contact-wearing Flock members, she guessed that they also saw the message.

"Ok, Flock," Max commanded. "Time to land. Since we're so close to the facility, there's bound to be some Erasers around. Remember, what we discussed. Put up a fight, but start to falter att he signal. And try not to let them get any really damaging blows in. A knock to the head should be fine. We need to be in the best shape."

The landed a few minutes later and went into stealth mode, approaching the facility. True to Max's word, they were soon surrounded by snarling wolf-men.

"Iggy, 12 o'clock!"

"Max behind you!"

"Fang, double up on the one of Gazzy!"

"Little help here Nudge!"

Various warnings filled the air as the Flock "fought for their lives."

"Take them alive!" a voice snarled.

As Max punched and kicked away Erasers, she felt the familiar tingling in her skull.

_Max, this is a bad idea._

Oh great, the Voice was back.

"You couldn't come at a more convenient time?" she muttered, as she took down an Eraser. She didn't miss the look confusion on its face as it heard her talking.

_There was something...blocking me._

That was the first time Max had heard the Voice confused.

"Well, i don't really have time for this," she growled. "Just a little busy," she added sarcastically.

_You can't trust them, Jack, the team, any of them._

"As oppose to trusting the voice inside my head. Because, you know, that's what all the psychos say. And I don't fancy becoming one today. Besides, they're a lot more trustworthy than you." she spun and gave a kick in the chest.

_You hardly know any of them._

"I know enough. And one of them is a parent to one of my Flock members. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Plus, they've suggested we do something, which is more than you have. 'Just wait' you say. Well, I'm tired of waiting." Her opponent went down in a barrage of punches. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go and get captured."

She gave the signal to Torchwood, and then words appeared across the front of her vision.

**D&O**

Down and Out. Max was quite proud of herself for this little parody of their Up and Away signal. She let herself be taken down first, by not dodging a hairy fist going straight for her head. She fell to the ground, slowly blacking into unconsciousness.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

A mile away, the Torchwood team was sitting in the SUV, watching the fight take place through a pair of alien binoculars. They had put the tech on the roof of the car, then hooked it up to a large screen that everyone could see in the car.

"For the last time, Jack, get your hand away from there," muttered the exasperated Ianto. He was sitting in the driver's seat. Being the driver was the only thing Jack would allow Ianto to do in his current state. The injured Welshman looked at Jack, who had his hand "below" the steering wheel.

"Jesus, are we going to have to leave?" exclaimed Owen.

"Hey," argued Ianto. "Don't look at me. Jack's the one whose acting up!"

"But I can't help it," said the immortal, smiling. "You're so serious, it's adorable." He leaned over and kissed Ianto, full on the mouth. Instinctively, Ianto pushed forward, deepening the kiss. They broke apart a few seconds later, amidst the groans of Owen and the giggle of Gwen and Tosh.

Ianto turned red as the blush traveled up his ears and spread down his neck. Frankly, he was surprised there was enough blood to let him blush. He felt as though all of it had traveled straight to, well "below" the steering wheel.

Jack grinned at Ianto as he looked self-consciously downward. That man really won him over with his charms, without even knowing it.

"Umm, I think you better keep an eye on the kids, looks like one of them is signaling."

"Ah, right," said Tosh. She typed up "D&O" then sent it to all the kids.

Within minutes, the medical stats started showing **UNCONSCIOUS**. Owen moved quickly to the computer and began frantically typing. After a few moments, he pulled away, relieved. It's all right, they've escaped maximum damage. Just a few cuts and bruises, they'll be a bit sore when they wake up, but that's about it."

By this time, the whole team was looking at the image projected onto the screen, as the Erasers dragged away their captives. A black, nondescript van pulled up to the twenty or so Erasers that had attacked the Flock. The wolfmen loaded the unconscious children into the van, then piled into a truck that had just pulled up. As the door slid down over the last Eraser, screams echoed from the truck, loud enough to be heard by the Torchwood team.

"What in the bloody hell was that?" exclaimed Owen, after they could no longer hear the screaming. The rest of the team sat in shock.

It was Jack who finally answered Owen's demand. "I guess once the Erasers had served their purpose, they were no longer useful. A waste of space. At least now we know why they are rounding up all the mutants," he grimly stated. Gwen looked horrified.

"We gave up the Flock to THAT? But that's like sending them to their deaths!"

"I'm aware," sighed Jack. "And so is the Flock, or at least Max is. I talked to her about it, we both agreed that it was a potentially suicidal mission. We also agreed that although it was risky, it was our best chance. Plus, the chances of them dying or getting badly hurt are severely reduced with us as backup." Gwen and Owen reluctantly nodded; Tosh, however, was looking somewhere else.

"Are you alright, Ianto?" she asked timidly. The whole team turned to Ianto, who was tightly gripping the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white. His face was a stony mask, which could only mean one thing. It was taking everything not to break down and start crying in the front of the team.

"Ianto?" Jack asked, hesitantly, as he looked at the stiff Welshman.

He didn't look ar them as he started to speak, and they saw his jaw clench in his profile as he attempted to speak without betraying emotion.

"I was so scared, during Canary Wharf," he began. The team tensed as they saw where this was going. Jack placed a comforting hand on Ianto's shoulder.

"The cybermen rounded us up, made us wait in lines to be converted. They deleted anyone who tried to run, instantly. I stood there, in line and I watched the people, one by one, being forced into the conversion units. And they screamed, god they screamed. None of them were really innocent, I mean, who is? But none of them deserved to die like that either. So scared, so defenseless. Those things, those Erasers, they were part human. Maybe they had been bred part wolf, but there was still human in them. And they killed them all, just like that. It's not like the Erasers were doing anything wrong to those people, I mean, they created them in the first place. They treated them like just meat. What gives them the right to just take life away, even if they gave it to them in the first place. They're monsters."

Jack shuddered at the last words Ianto said. Ianto had called him 'a monster' after the Lisa incident. The Welshman didn't still think that anymore, given their current status, but it still hurt Jack. When he looked up, Jack suddenly found himself in Ianto's gaze. His cheeks were stained with a few stray tears that had escaped, but his eyes held such an intensity that Jack had never seen before, not even when he was protecting his half-converted girlfriend.'

"Let's get these bastards, Jack." stated Ianto.

Jack grinned, the rest of the team sighed in relief. "Happy to oblige Ianto."

"It looks like the signals have stopped moving," piped up Tosh. All eyes shifted to Tosh and Ianto looked relieved at this change of focus.

"Alright then," Jack rubbed his hands together. "Phase 2 of the operation. Let's do what Torchwood does best!"

"So should I add 'Bringing down corrupt corporations' to the list then?" quipped Ianto.

Owen scoffed. "You keep a list of things Torchwood does best? And I thought you couldn't get any weirder, Teaboy."

Ianto replied sarcastically. "Yeah, it's right next to my job description. Which doesn't say anything about doing most of your paperwork."

That shut Owen up for the time being. He may have been undead, and therefore couldn't sleep, but that didn't mean he liked filling in the unending hours of boredom with reports.

"So what do we do now?" asked Gwen as they pulled up as close to the large castle where Tosh was getting the readings from as they could without being seen.

"We wait," said Jack. "Wait until they give us the signal. And then, we attack."

* * *

><p>Me: Action coming soon. Next chapter or two I promise.<p>

Jack: Finally! Some excitement around here!

Me: Are you implying my story hasn't been exciting? *Glares*

Jack: Well, yeah. I am. It's been rather dull to be honest.

Me: YOU KNOW WHAT- ehhh...guess you're right, it has been pretty suckish in terms of action.

Jack: See, I'm right most of the time anyway.

Me: Well, I'll give you that one, most of the time? I don't know.

Jack: Oh, shut up. I'm going back into the closet now.

Me: Tell Karambi "Hi" from me! Oh yeah, don't forget to review, all you lovely readers.

Jack: Yeah, don't. Or I'll visit you in you're dreams

Me: One would think you don't want them to review!


	14. D&D

Me: OMG! I haven't updated in like forever! So sorry!

Jack: Not as sorry as I am. She completely forgot about me...

Me: Yeah...sorry about that.

Jack: I starved to death...multiple times.

Me: Like I said, I'm sorry. I'm also sorry to all of you readers! I had serious writers block. It was bad. It's only thanks to Wings-and-a-Fez that I was able to overcome it. And it is unacceptable that I'm taking so long to update. But you know what, that's not important. Feel free to leave as many angry comments at me as you'd like, I feel as though I deserve it. I only ask that I escape with my life.

Jack: She doesn't even deserve that...

Me: Shut up! You really don't want to fall into the hands of a diehard fangirl, trust me.

Jack: But that's you, isn't it?

Me: Rigghhht...No, true fangirls are a hundred times worse than me. I regrettably cannot call myself a fangirl yet. I have not reached that level. But I soon will... :).

Jack: Wait, what are you planning to do? And more importantly, does it involve me? *winks*

Me: *slaps arm*

Jack: Oww! What did you do that for?

Me: *shakes head* And here I thought you could get through a whole author's note without making a single innuendo.

Ianto: You do know that's not possible, right?

Me: Oh my god! When did you get here?

Jack: Ianto!

Ianto: The Doctor dropped me off. I was getting worried about Jack being gone for so long, figured I should take a look.

Jack: Thank god you're here, Ianto! I've been trapped here for months!

Ianto: It's only been a few days...

Me: Oh, that must be the Doctor's doing. I specifically asked him to give me some time with Jack, but at the same time let him stay at Torchwood. He must have traveled back in time and dropped Jack off here so that I could keep him for a while without Torchwood noticing. I'm guessing you've noticed.

Ianto: Well, it was rather evident he was gone after I went through several days and didn't have to file a single harassment suit.

Jack: Wait? Did it really take you a couple of days to notice I was gone?

Ianto: Yes, that's why I said you'd only been gone a couple of days. What did you think?

Jack: Well, I thought you noticed right away, then maybe it just took you some time to try and find me or get in contact for the Doctor.

Ianto: Well, Jack, this isn't exactly the first time you've run off...

Me: And we're straying into angst territory, which is not something I really want to do in the A/N. So, without further ado, enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own Torchwood. Grr face..._

* * *

><p><em>Chapter 14<em>

Max slowly woke into consciousness, and the first thing that she noticed was that her head HURT. Badly. She let out a muffled groan as she attempted to move her head and a dull pounding deterred her. A metal clanking noise caught her attention, and her attention was drawn to both of her wrists. They were cuffed and attached to dark, stone walls. Like a dungeon. Of course it would be like a dungeon, they were in a frickin' castle for crying out loud.

Quickly, she did an inventory of the Flock members. Gazzy and Angel, check, Nudge, check, Iggy, check, Fang, check. She saw a slight movement from the tall and dark bird kid as he, too, stirred.

"Careful," she rasped out, throat dry from the yelling during the fighting. "You're going to have a painful headache."

Fang slowly raised his head, wincing as he did so, to look at her. "Yeah, I see what you mean. Oh, I just hope nothing's broken."

IT'S NOT

The digital words appeared across her vision. Max recoiled slightly, but she was slightly more used to it. Lip-reading software...right.

Max didn't really have much more time to think as she heard the door to their prison creak open. The dim torchlights reflected shadows onto the damp walls, and Max could count about four or five approaching people.

As the group came into view, the first person Max noticed was the tall authoritative woman who stood at the front of everyone. She was wearing a suit with 2-inch heels, which clacked menacingly across the floor. The noise that her shoes made woke the remaining bird-kids, this was evident by the muffled groans that emenated from the previously still figures.

"Glad to see you're all awake, children," said the woman, who Max guessed to be the Director from her authoritative look.

Gazzy exclaimed indignantly, "We're not children!"

The Director laughed, as if it was some kind of private joke. Her four henchmen laughed forcefully. "Oh, you think you're adults? You're so cute. No. What you need to understand is that you will always be children to us. We created you. You owe your existence to us."

"Yeah, and I suppose I owe my blindness to you." Iggy said bitterly. "Thanks so much," he added sarcastically.

"It was all in the pursuit of science, you have to understand. Everything we did, we ultimately did as an attempt to make you better. Yes, some of them weren't so successful, but it was all in the name of science."

"I'm not some frickin' science experiment," retorted Iggy angrily. He had had enough of these adults, these people who thought they knew better than him, and thought that this knowledge gave them the right to do anything. "I'm a living, breathing human! I may be 2% bird, but that doesn't make me an animal, so you shouldn't treat me like one! You shouldn't treat any of us like this!"

Gazzy whistled. "Way to go Iggy! Bird-kids unite!" The rest of the flock smiled to this.

"Well, I see that you are not going to cooperate," the Director smiled curtly. "But, Max, I don't need these experiments." she gestured to the other kids. "I only need you. You are the most successful so far. If you cooperate with me, I can find you a place in the new world."

"Not a chance," replied Max.

"Yeah," piped up Nudge. "You're not getting any help from us."

"I wasn't asking you, you are failures. You are not like Max. She has skills, one's we can develop. But if you all insist on that you will be retired, with the rest of the experiments."

"What about the Erasers?" asked Fang. "Are they going to continue to serve you?"

The Director shook her head. "We have something greater, something much more powerful than these half-breeds. Those will be retired and the Cyber wolf men will take their place!"

"What are the cyber wolf men?" asked Gazzy. Beside him, Angel stiffened as she read the mind of the Director.

"Part machine, part wolf." said the Director, a cruel smile spreading on her face. "Skins wrapped around a metal body, capable of flying, and a lot more sturdy than those weak, mammal bodies of the Erasers."

"So you're just going to kill all of them? Even the ones that have been loyally serving you? That's monstrous!" exclaimed Max.

"No, that's progress." replied the Director. "There is no room for them in the new world. No room for such errors. So they will be eliminated. Just as you will, for refusing to cooperate." She turned to her stoic escorts. "Guards, you know where to take them."

"No! No!" exclaimed Max as she saw the men approaching, each taking a syringe from their pockets. She struggled against the chains, tried to lash out at them, but couldn't stop the needle from plunging into her neck.

The Director looked pityingly at Max. "You should have listened to me. What kind of child doesn't listen to their own mother?"

"What?" asked Max, confused and horrified at the same time. This statement also elicited gasps from the other members of the Flock.

The Director simply smiled. "Oh how you will wish you had listened to me." With those words, Max felt herself losing her grip on consciousness and she slipped into the dark.

"Jack, do you think they'll be alright?" asked Gwen worriedly. They had just seen the entire conversation between the Director and Max through the contact lenses.

"It looks like just a sedative, but you should ask Owen." replied the captain.

"Yeah," replied the medic. "They should be fine. Though be the looks of that conversation, they might not be for long. Jack, should we be going in any time soon?"

"Let's just be careful. We want to bring down Itex, and we'll need the Flock for that. Let's wait until one of them gives us the signal. As long as none of them are fatally injured, let's stay out of it."

"But if they're fatally injured, we won't have time," exclaimed Gwen. "We need to help them!"

Jack turned to Gwen. "Look Gwen, I know you look at them and see children, but what you have to understand is that they aren't. They've lived through things no child should have to live through, heck things no adult should have to live through, and they survived. That made them strong. Trust me, Gwen, I know what its like. And right now, you have to understand, as Torchwood, we have to make the decision. Risk six lives or risk half the world. And in the end, we have to choose those six lives."

Gwen looked slightly mollified, and she nodded in understanding, though her eyes showed she was not convinced.

Tosh coughed. "Um, I have to, that is, well, I kind of have to use the restroom."

Owen groaned. "Really, Tosh? What, did you not go before you left?"

"Shut it Owen," said Ianto. "Just because you no longer have any bodily functions, doesn't mean the rest of us don't. We've been sitting here for hours." He turned to Tosh. "I think I saw a cafe back in town."

"I'll walk," said Tosh. She opened the door.

"Got your gun?" asked Jack, worriedly.

"Jack, she's just using the restroom," said Gwen.

"Yeah, and Ianto was just getting groceries." he replied. "I'm not letting any more of you get hurt, at least not before the fight."

"Fine, I've got it," said Tosh as she held up her gun. "Happy?"

Jack nodded. "And keep your commlink on. If we don't get communications from you every five minutes, we're coming in, guns-ablazing."

Tosh laughed. "Don't worry, I'll make sure."

Tosh was just exiting the bathroom. It had been a little difficult to find because all of the signs were in German but she managed. As she was about to leave the station, she heard voices.

"yeah, did you hear about the mutants?"

Tosh froze, and then leaned in closer to hear.

"They caught the bird kids, the last of the important ones. They're going to have a mass gassing tomorrow morning."

Tosh silently gasped. She needed to get back to the SUV as quickly as possible.

"Jack, there's something you need to know," she whispered into her comm.

* * *

><p>Me: Crappy ending, I'm aware. I just really wanted to finish it and be able to finally post it. I promise for some action later. There will be no closing statements from Jack, or Ianto for that matter, today. They have, *ahem* resolved their disagreement. Jack, however, will be back, when he is not otherwise occupied. And I now know my closet is not sound proof. *shudders* Don't forget to review! And thanks for reading!<p> 


	15. Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

Me: Oh, look! Jack's back!

Jack: And feeling amazing!

Me: See, you got your fun. I promised I would let you have it, but only with Ianto.

Ianto: I appreciate that, by the way.

Me: No problem.

Ianto: Though you could have taken better care of him. Stampeded by horses, mauled by angry bears, starving to death? I'd prefer it if he not die so many times.

Me: Ah, well, but...

Ianto: No buts, you really have to start taking better care of him.

Me: Well, now that you're here, you can start doing that.

Ianto: Wait, what?

Me: You're staying, I've decided.

Jack: Yes!

Ianto: No! What do you mean, I'm staying? I'm needed at Torchwood!

Me: Eh, Gwen Tosh and Owen can handle it just fine themselves. I believe you will be very good for my author's A/Ns. Plus, I won't have to keep slapping Jack everytime he makes an innuendo.

Ianto: But my suits? All my personal items? I can't live in a closet!

Me: Don't worry, I have an adjoining guestroom to my own room. You can live there.

Jack: Hey! How come I never got that room?

Me: Plain and simple, I like him better.

Jack: I'll pretend not to be offended. Can share the room with him then?

Me: Only if he says so.

Jack: Ianto?

Ianto: Maybe if you're nice to me.

Jack: I'll do anything you want.

Ianto: I will consider it.

Me: Alright, let's get to the story now. General disclaimers, I don't own any of this, not even all of the ideas. It belongs to BBC, Russel T. Davies and James Patterson. Enjoy the story!

* * *

><p>Chapter 15<p>

"Wait, so like, a Holocaust style gassing?" asked Owen.

"That's what it sounded like." replied Tosh. She had just finished explaining to the team what she had overheard. They all wore shocked expressions on their faces as they took it in, all except Jack, whose eyes just showed great sadness.

"Not a pleasant way to go," commented Ianto.

"Definitely. First-hand experience here." put in Jack. He said it lightly, but the team could see the pain in his eyes, or at least Ianto could. The Welshman reached over and touched Jack's hand softly in reassurance.

"So, this changes the plans, then?" asked Gwen.

Jack nodded. "Of course. This wasn't something we predicted and their safety is our top priority. We need to get a message to them as soon as possible, but that might not be enough. They could be being taken to the gassing chambers as we speak." He turned to the computer genius, "Tosh, I need you to get a full layout of the castle. Hack their building plans, whatever, just get me what I need. Then I need you to narrow down the most likely spots where a gas chamber, or multiple, could be held."

"Got it," said Tosh, as she began furiously typing away.

"Owen," continued Jack. "I need you to keep on tracking the Flock, and when Tosh gets the most likely spots for a gas chamber, I need you to see how close they are to one. Also, constantly monitor their vital signs. Let me know if any changes just the tiniest bit for the worse."

"And where are you going?" the medic replied as he turned towards the vital sign monitors.

"Gwen and I are going to try to get in as close as possible to the base. Tosh, I know this is a pain, but could you check for any deliveries coming in this afternoon?"

"Yes, actually, there's a delivery van coming in around 3:00p.m. How's your German?"

"Well, it's a little rusty," admitted Jack. "But it'll pass for native. Did I ever tell you about the time Torchwood sent me undercover in a German science lab? Did those guys ever need to loosen up. And I sure helped them do that..."

"Enough, Jack," interrupted Gwen. "We really don't need to know any more than that."

Jack pouted, but nodded in agreement.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

"Guten Tag!" an American accent greeted the two guards on duty. They straightened suspiciously.

"Er ist Amerika?" whispered one of the guards to the other.

"Warum bist du hier?" he called to the approaching truck.

"Eine lieferung," replied the man with his accent.

"Dokumente?" asked the guard, holding out a hand.

The delivery man wordlessly handed him the necessary papers as the second guard spoke into the intercom. He received a confirmation of the delivery and gave the thumbs up to the guard with the papers.

The guard handed back the papers, eyeing the man, then buzzed him through.

"Danke" said the man cheerfully as he drove the truck through the gates into the high security facility.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

As soon as Jack was far enough from the guards, he breathed a sigh of relief. Gwen popped out from the back of the van and slid into the side seat.

"I'm in, Tosh," he said, as he put his comms back into his ear. It would have looked too suspicious if a lowly delivery man was wearing such a high tech piece of equipment, so he had had to rely solely on his ability to speak German.

_"Great job Jack,"_ she said.

_"Impressive, sir."_ Jack heard the voice of his favorite Welshman. Apparently the comms system was on open links.

"Wasn't it though?" replied Jack, unable to resist a little bit of flirting. "I can show you just how impressive it is later-"

_"Jack! Stuff it!"_ Owen's shrill voice rang over the comms. Right. Open comms meant EVERYONE could hear the conversation.

_"Ok,"_ said Tosh, getting back to business. _"You're by the far right entrance, the service entrance. From the loading dock, there's an entrance into the main building through a side door. There are two security guards on duty, which Gwen should be able to take out, since they aren't expecting her."_

"Gotcha," said Gwen in affirmation. "You ready, Jack?"

"As always," winked Jack. "Tosh, Owen, Ianto, stay on the line."

_"You got it, boss,"_ Owen replied slightly sarcastically.

Gwen and Jack both pulled out their guns and went in separate directions, using Tosh's information to stay out of the line of sight of the cameras and security guards.

Gwen heard some unintelligible German and tensed as she heard footsteps approaching. Any moment now, the guard would see that the delivery truck was stationary and empty. Or he would see Jack. Either way, it would end up with him calling for back up. So, she did the only thing she could think of, and as the guard rounded the corner, she hit him on the head with the butt of her gun.

As he collapsed, she caught him before he hit the ground. She struggled with the collapsed body for a few seconds before the weight was suddenly taken away by an unknown force. Looking up, she saw Jack, firmly supporting the limp body, which he gently lowered to the ground.

"What did you think you were doing?" whispered Jack.

"He was going to find us out!" protested Gwen. "It's what you would have done!"

_"Because doing what Jack does is such a great idea,"_ snarked Owen.

"Shut up, Owen," hissed Gwen.

"It's ok, Gwen," soothed Jack. "Secrecy is priority in this mission, you did what was best."

"I know, Jack, and I'm sorry. I just really want those kids to be safe-" Gwen choked, and Jack pulled her in a comforting hug.

_"Look, I hate to break up a hallmark moment, but Tosh says that there's a heat signature on the satellite that's coming toward's you."_ Owen's voice rang over the comms.

"Shit," said Jack, withdrawing from the hug. "I guess we'll have to take the second one down too."

Within the next minute, Gwen and Jack were both looking at two unconscious bodies on the floor.

"Alrighty, let's strip them." stated Jack.

_"Oy, Harkness, I'm pretty sure that shagging an unconscious man is basically the same thing as necrophilia,"_ Owen said.

"Funny, Harper, but that's not what I meant," replied Jack. "I was _going_ to suggest that we get into these uniforms so we blend in better."

Gwen nodded in agreement. "That'll buy us some time."

In five minutes, the two guards were stripped to their underwear and Gwen and Jack rolled them under the truck. They climbed into the back of the truck and changed into the uniforms, all the while Gwen warning Jack to keep his back turned.

After they were done changing, they both stepped out of the van and looked each other. Jack self-conciously tugged at the sleeves; they felt a little short on him.

He spoke into the comms. "Ianto, I'm glad you talked me out of bringing that coat. There's no way I could have worn it on this mission."

_"I am always right, sir,"_ replied Ianto, across the comms.

"Oh, yes," agreed Jack. "_Always_" He lost himself in thought for a moment before snapping out of it and grinning. "Mission time!"

"Yeah, mission time." Gwen looked at him, eyebrows raised. "Are you ok, Jack? You seem a bit-off."

Jack looked at her. "Off?" he asked. "What do you mean by off?"

"You've just been acting less like yourself since this incident with the bird kids." replied Gwen.

"I'm fine," Jack insisted. "We really should get back to the mission now."

"Yeah," Gwen nodded, but her eyes showed she was unconvinced.

"Tosh?" asked Jack.

_"You don't have a lot of time." _urged Tosh. _"Getting into those uniforms helped, but the guard still changes in the next thirty minutes. When they discover that someone's broken in, they're going to send the whole facility into lockdown, or at least a main section. You have to get to the Flock before that happens. I can't do any more heat signature traces for you, the loading dock was the least shielded place of the whole facility, so all I've got are the original blueprints and the GPS locations of the Flock through their contact lenses. You're on your own. Just remember, Owen, Ianto and I are here for backup, if you really need it. Just get them out safe."_

"Will do," Jack nodded in affirmation. He turned to Gwen. "Let's do this."

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

_Another pounding headache, _Max groaned as she once again stirred into consciousness. This time, she found herself completely free of any sort of restraints, and so she cautiously crawled to her feet. Around her, the Flock lay sprawled across the ground, as unconscious as she had been a few minutes ago. A few shakes to their shoulders did nothing to wake them, so she decided to let them come to on their own.

Looking around, Max realized that her surroundings consisted of a decent-sized circular room. When she said decent sized, she of course meant that it was big enough to walk around a bit, but not much. The diameter of the room was maybe 20 feet. There appeared to be only one door and no windows, and Max approached the door with boldness, pounding on it, screaming "Let me out!"

The screaming seemed to have no affect on any sort of movement on the other side of the door, but apparently her shouting was loud enough to wake the dead, or at least the Flock that had been in a drug-induced sleep.

"What is that god-awful racket," complained Nudge, as she slowly climbed up to her feet, followed by the rest of the Flock.

"Hah," replied Max. "This coming from the Nudge Channel." Nudge stuck her tongue out at Max, who in turn rolled her eyes.

"Head count," said Fang, who had come to stand by Max's side. "Gasman, Iggy, Nudge and Angel."

"Wait," said Max, after a moment's pause. "Angel?" she approached the still sleeping bird kid.

"Crap," Max muttered. "They accounted for our fast metabolisms, but they didn't account for the fact that Angel's only 6. I have a feeling she's going to be out for quite some time."

"So, Flock, what do we know?" asked Max, facing the conscious part of her family.

"Well, we know we're locked up," said Nudge.

Iggy turned towards the sound of her voice. "Helpful," he said sarcastically.

"I was just trying to contribute," protested Nudge, an angry frown crossing her face.

"Ok, ok, calm down," said Max. _Last thing we need is a fight right now. _

"It's small," said Gazzy.

"And there are some kinds of nozzles coming out of the floor," added Fang, looking down.

"You're right," said Max, her curiosity peaking. She knelt down and examined what looked like small sprinklers. A sick feeling came to her stomach as she realized what they were. She looked at Fang, who was also examining them and the expression on his face told her that he also knew what they were for. Suddenly, a hissing sounded as the nozzles fully rotated and opened. At the same time, one of the flat white walls doubled as a television screen as the face of the Director appeared.

"Well, this appears to be the end of the road for you," she said, mocking them slightly. "We offered a way out, but you rejected it, and now you are coming to an end. Like all the other experiments."

"Do we have to stare at that ugly mug for the last remaining moments of our lives?" asked Gazzy, sarcastically. The woman on the screen frowned.

_Way to go, fight to the end_. Max thought fondly. Though in those thoughts there was a tinge of bitterness. The team had lied. They weren't coming to save them, and the Flock was going to die. She never should have trusted that Jack. He failed her, just like all adults did. She felt her thoughts starting to become hazy. Beside her, Nudge dropped to the ground. Being the smallest, the gas would affect her first.

Her knees gave out from her, and she sunk to the floor. Around her, she heard the thumps as the Flock members hit the ground. Of course the gas wouldn't work right away. The Flock members wouldn't be as quickly affected because of their specialized bird lungs, but they were still succumbing. In front of her, the enlarged face of the woman grinned eerily, and Max began to lose consciousness. The last thing she saw before she completely collapsed was Fang's eyes, staring deep into her own. He did look angry, or disappointed, merely loving. As she sank into in oblivion, she felt his warm lips touch hers.

"I love you," he whispered softly, and then Max knew no more.

* * *

><p>Me: Cliffhanger! What now?<p>

Jack: Interesting ending you got there...

Me: Yeah, I do realize that it resembles a certain death scene of one of our favorite characters..

Ianto: Who would that be?

Me: *awkwardly looks away*

Ianto: What?

Me: Anyway, sorry again for the long update time, and please let me know what you think. And for the record, I wrote this last scene before I realized that I was copying, that, you know, death scene.

Ianto: Seriously, what scene are we talking about?


	16. Escape from Paradise

_**A/N**: Yes. I'm very late. I'm sorry. Please don't kill me. I know you won't, because that would mean no more updates. You may hate me, and I'm really sorry for that. Here's the thing, I had a lot of trouble with this trouble. I've lost inspiration for this story, and it's nobody's fault, least of all my faithful readers. I'm not going to give it up, but I am having trouble thinking up further ideas. I also need a beta. So if anyone can help me out with this story, give me some more plot ideas or be my beta, please pm me. It would really help me get this story back on the road. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this chapter. It was very hard for me to write._

**Chapter 16**

"Fuck," Owen swore softly as he saw the readings coming through the contact lenses. The red flashing was not a good sign, and Ianto knew that.

"What is it? What's wrong?" asked Ianto. Owen waved him off and instead spoke to Jack.

"Their vitals are crashing, fast."

"I know," replied Jack, who had been making his way through the pristine halls of the facility. "There was just an announcement stating that a gassing was going to take place.

"It's not good, Jack," said Owen. "There is some sort of poisonous gas in their systems and they'll die if you don't get them out soon."

"Jack, please," pleaded Ianto. "You have to save them."

"I promise," Jack said as he motioned to Gwen. They headed down a hallway, with a map that they had conveniently acquired from one of the guards. They soon reached a large, white door, like a vault, which looked impenetrable. Jack whipped out his Vortex Manipulator and in punched a few codes which resulted in a clicking noise. At this, Jack motioned to Gwen, and they both turned the wheel on the door, opening it.

"Oh God," exclaimed Gwen as she took in the sight. 6 unconscious bird kids lay in front of her.

"Owen," Jack spoke into his comm. "They're here, but they're unconscious."

"You need to get them out of the room," said the medic. "Get them to some fresh air, it might not be too late."

"Gwen," Jack said. He turned to the welsh woman. She was leaning against the wall, slightly dizzy. "She doesn't look good," said Jack over his comm.

"Crap, the gas. It's effects are diluted but they are still there. Your 51st century genes aren't affected by whatever this compound is, but her genes are."

"Get out Gwen," Jack ordered.

"What?"

"Get out now. Can't have you being unconscious too. I'm not affected. I'll get the bird kids out of the room, you get them into one of the empty lab rooms. Someone's going to notice us soon and we can't be exposed in the open."

"Fine," agreed Gwen stumbling out of the room. Jack got into the room and decided to start with the smallest, Angel. The gas would affect her the worst.

He hoisted the small girl into his arms, she was surprisingly light, even for someone her age, and he carried her out of the room. Placing her down, he saw Gwen, who had managed to open a nearby lab door, heading over to her, and he nodded, entering the room once more. He continued evacuating each flock member until, finally, all six were out.

Then, Jack headed towards the lab, where the kids were recovering.

"How are they?" asked Jack, as he entered the room.

"The older kids, Max, Fang and Iggy, just stirred," replied Gwen, "But the younger three are still out cold. Jack, we need to get out soon. Someone must have noticed that the door was unlocked by now."

"They'll probably notice in about 5 minutes," he said. Gwen looked at him in confusion. "I got my vortex manipulator to delay the signal that the door had been opened for about 10 minutes. It took me about five minutes to get all the flock out. But it was an incredible drain on my power, so I doubt that I'll be able to pull anything like that for the rest of the day, or until I get back into the Hub and can give it some charge."

Gwen nodded. "But we still need to get out soon."

"Of course," said Jack. "I'd prefer to go out without a whole shootout. But we should really wait for all of them to become conscious."

At that moment, Max opened her eyes. "What the hell?" she asked.

"Max, thank goodness," said Gwen.

"We got here just in time," said Jack.

"Just in time for-?" then she remembered. "Is everyone else ok?"

Jack nodded. "Just unconscious."

Max growled as she got to her feet. "You better freaking hope so, military man, because if any are dead, you're going to wish you were mortal."

Jack raised his eyebrows at the thinly veiled threat. "Sure would hate to be your enemy," he said. Then, "Wait a minute. Military man?"

"My new nickname for you," replied Max, smugly.

Jack rolled his eyes. Then he spoke to Owen. "We got them all out, now what?"

"Well, the readings say that they are all healthy and should come around within the next minute or so, the bigger ones obviously sooner than the smaller ones."

"They better come around soon," said Gwen. Jack looked over at her. She was listening to the walkie-talkie that she had acquired from one of the guards. "From what I can tell, these guys on the radio are angry about something, and I doubt it could be anything else but the fact that the bird-kids escaped."

Sure enough, the faint stomping of boots could be heard coming from the hall. Jack ran towards the door, then pulled it shut, locking it.

"I don't think we'll be coming out the entrance," he stated, then started moving around the room.

"What are you doing?" asked Max, as she crouched by Fang, gently shaking him awake.

"I'm looking for a way out," replied Jack as his eyes searched the room. Finally, he looked up and saw an skylight, at the top of the ceiling.

"Skylight," he pointed up at the ceiling, and Max looked up.

"Should be easy enough to get it open," she said. "We can carry you and Gwen out."

"You hear that, Owen?" Jack said into the comm. "We found an escape route and we need an extraction."

Coming right up, replied the medic.

We've locked onto your signal, Tosh added. We'll be there with the SUV as soon as we can. Looks like you're near the back end of the facility. Once you're out of the lab, go north. You'll see us soon enough.

"Got it?" Jack asked Max, who nodded in reply.

"We're all awake," said Fang, who was helping Angel up from the ground. "Do you want us to open up the skylight?"

"Yes please," urged Gwen. The lab was echoing with the heavy pounding on the door. "I don't think we have much time."

"Iggy, Nudge, grab Gwen. She's the lightest." commanded Max. "Me and Fang will grab Mr. Immortal over here.

Meanwhile, Gazzy had flown up to the skylight and was now fiddling with the latch.

"Gazzy, hurry!" commanded Max, who was looking at the door agitatedly.

"I'm trying, I'm trying," muttered the young boy. He whooped with success when he got it, and pushed the glass pane open. The blast of fresh air swept through the room.

"U&A?" Fang turned to Max. She smiled and nodded. "Let's do it."

The Flock took off, Gazzy and Angel first. As they ascended through the skylight onto the roof, they heard the shouts of the guards as they finally broke down the door. Shots sounded as they were fired through the open hole, but the birds kids were far out of the way. The sentry towers glowed red as emergency lights flared and shouts to stop, both in German and English, sounded through the speakers.

Suddenly, multiple gun shots began to fill the air as the sentries got the o.k. to shoot. Although Tosh had been right in saying that they were near the back end of the facility, they were still close enough to be shot at, and they were slowed down by Gwen and Jack.

"Where's your Torchwood?" yelled Max, over the roar of gunfire.

"They're coming," Jack called back. "I know they are."

True to his word, they looked north and saw the black SUV, churning up dirt as it raced towards them. Max and the rest of the Flock began to descend until they had come to a stop on the ground, 200 or so feet from the car, which had gradually began to slow down. It braked right in front of them, with Owen leaping out of the car and motioning to get in. Jack and Gwen climbed into the SUV, then motioned for the kids to come in.

Max shook her head. "We'll take to the air. Meet you over the border. Split up the guys following you." Sure enough, the gates had begun to open and military looking vehicles were racing out of the facility, no doubt in pursuit of the prey they had lost.

"We really should be going," called Ianto from the driver's seat.

Jack nodded. "We'll meet over the border where we agreed to. 3 hours tops. We'll see you there."

Max nodded. "Thanks, for everything," she added uncomfortably, clearly not used to having to thank someone.

Jack smiled. "That's what we do," he said. "Now go."

She smiled. "Up and Away!" she shouted as she unfurled her wings and shot into the sky. The rest of the flock followed, cheering.

Laughing, Jack watched them go, and he leapt into the car, which turned and sped into the direction of the border. The car chases, poisonous gas and evil bad guys were all something out of a spy film and something that reminded him why, at some times, he actually really enjoyed the job.

* * *

><p><em>Hope that wasn't too hard to read. Pm me if you have anything to say, and don't be afraid to leave a review. I appreciate those! I will try to get my next chapter up if I can get the motivation to write it.<em>


	17. After the Lights Go Out

_**Chapter 17**-After the Lights Go Out_

Max collapsed on the Hub couch, weary from the traveling, gas poisoning and, in general, life. They had flown over 8 hours nonstop, then they had had to take a plane back to Cardiff.

As soon as they had touched down, an alert had come into Jack's wrist band about multiple rift alerts in a cluster in the middle of a park. They had rushed to the scene to find multiple groups of inquisitive aliens, who had simply popped by for a visit.

Apparently they had confused the solar system with one that was "next door" and were looking for directions. Luckily, Tosh had some information on the solar systems surrounding them and was soon able to send off the travelers on their merry way.

Now the Flock had stumbled into the secret underground base and crawled into their sleeping bags. Frankly, Max couldn't remember the reason why the Flock had undertaken such a dangerous question could wait till morning. The world blacked out to her, this time in a more peaceful way, as she drifted off into what she was hoping would be a dreamless, pleasant sleep.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

"They're exhausted," Gwen commented, as she stared down at the children, and then she yawned herself.

"I'm sure you are too," added Jack, though he said this to the team in general, not just Gwen. They blinked back blearily, looking at him as if he was talking in some foreign language, except for Owen, who just looked bored. Jack nodded in affirmation. "Yeah, you are definitely exhausted. Go home. Get some rest." he ordered Tosh and Gwen. Then he turned to Ianto. "Go," he said, indicating to his office. "I'll join soon." Without protest, all three Torchwood operatives followed his orders.

Jack then turned to Owen. "What are you planning on doing for the night?"

"Well," replied the doctor. "Seeing as I don't need sleep, or food or anything that anyone else needs, I'll be keeping an eye on the bird kids. See that they aren't affected negatively by the gas in any way. I would like a blood sample though, so I could study the gas."

"Don't even think about it," warned Jack. "They've spent the past couple of days being drugged, I don't think that they'll appreciate being stuck with a needle yet again."

The doctor frowned. "It would really be useful to know what kind of gas got them."

"What does it matter?" replied Jack. "The effects wore off."

"How do you know that?" countered Owen. "It could affect them while they are sleeping."

"Fine," replied Jack, shortly. "You can get one blood sample. Just to be safe."

"You can have some of mine," whispered a voice from above.

The two men looked up to see Gazzy standing, his hair slightly tousled and a dazed expression in his eyes.

"What are you doing up?" asked Jack, surprised.

"I needed to use the bathroom," admitted the boy. "And then I heard you arguing. You can have some of my blood if you want to make sure there's nothing wrong with the Flock."

"Alright then," agreed Owen. "Get down here."

Gazzy descended the steps to the med bay and sat on the metal autopsy table, then proffered his arm as Owen commanded. It was over within a matter of minutes, the sleepy boy headed back to his bed, after relieving himself, and Jack was left with one very excited doctor.

"You enjoy your blood," commented Jack, as he began climbing the stairs on his way to his office and Ianto. As he reached his office door, Owen called out, "Jack?"

Turning around, he asked, "What?"

"What did we do today? I mean, beside prove that there is in fact an evil facility in Germany that experiments on children. We didn't actually accomplish anything today, did we?"

Jack turned around. "Actually, proving the fact that this evil facility exists is exactly what we accomplished. I wasn't going to say anything, but I called U.N.I.T. Seeing as I have some contacts, I was able to alert them. I was messaged saying that the facility was shut down."

"How come they didn't back us up?"

"Well I had to have proof," said Jack. "And so I sent U.N.I.T. some feed from the contact lenses. They were convinced and moved in. You know, as much as I can hate those bastards sometimes, they do tend to be efficient."

"Maybe something about having 100 times the firepower that we have?" muttered the undead doctor sarcastically.

Jack nodded. "True," he smiled. "But we do get things done around here."

"Yeah, at what cost?" added Owen bitterly.

Jack sighed. He could see that Owen was getting into one of his moods, something that was happening even more frequently now that he was dead.

"I've told you before," Jack said. "Torchwood Three isn't meant for a large team."

"And why not?" challenged Owen. "God knows we need it. You can't have one person in tech support, another in field backup and the last as a doctor. You need more people."

"It works," said Jack. "We've contained all the threats so far."

"But barely," replied the undead doctor. "I died, for fuck's sake! And you've seen Tosh, Gwen and Ianto. They're exhausted, run down to the bone. And it doesn't help teaboy that you're shagging him. And Gwen, I can see her relationship with Rhys isn't going as well as it should. And don't even get me started on Tosh. She doesn't have a life outside of Torchwood. Do you think this is healthy? For any of us?"

"Well, I'm sorry!" exclaimed Jack. "I didn't mean to stick any of you into this position."

"Then why did you?"

Jack looked at him. "Maybe I didn't have a choice. I offered you the job to get away from Katy and to keep from being locked in Torchwood cells for the rest of your life. Tosh was going to stay in U.N.I.T. prison forever. And, well, Ianto insisted, and you know now why he did. As for Gwen, well we really did need her on the team. And out of all of you, I feel the most responsible for her because, had I said no, she would have been fine, carrying along her life out in peace. Instead I dragged her into this."

"Does Ianto know about this "guilt" you feel?" Owen bit back. "For Christ-sake, you two are together and Gwen is married!"

"I don't love her!" exclaimed Jack. Owen looked at him skeptically. "Well, not like that," amended the captain. "I love her like I love you, or Tosh. We're a small team, not some corporation like Torchwood One. I actually care about you, you're like family to me."

Owen seemed slightly satisfied by that answer. "But all this talk brings up another question. What are we going to do with the Flock? Are they going to stay here indefinitely or what?"

Jack shrugged. "That remains to be seen. They can stay or leave at their choosing. Their "School" is in the process of being taken down. Cut off the head and the body dies. They shouldn't have to worry about any mad scientists coming after them."

"But then shouldn't they be getting an education or something? Something that will give them life skills?" pressed the doctor.

"What life skills do they need to know?" Jack laughed. "From what I could see, they are pretty adept at fighting, all of them, and each one has their own little unique skill. Besides, they would definitely hate school. Not a fit for such free kids. Who knows, maybe I'll even offer them a job here. It's not like they aren't used to an action-packed life. And it could be useful having their skills."

Owen nodded. "I suppose you are right. But you have to consider this Jack. They are just kids. I know Torchwood recruits young, but let's not be snatching from the cradle. Angel is 8, at the most."

"Of course," Jack said. "I would give them one of our safe houses, let them do what they want. Then, when each turns 18, I'll offer them a job. Maybe they'll take it, maybe they won't, that's up to them. But somehow I doubt that any of them will want white-collar jobs."

"What if they don't want to work here?" asked Owen.

"I would obviously make sure that they got to do whatever they wanted. If that was going to college, then I'd pay for it, bill it to Torchwood."

Owen laughed. "I'd love to see Ianto trying to put that into the expense report."

"Oh he could," Jack laughed. "Trust me. Ianto can do anything. That man is amazing," a dreamy look came over the captain's face.

Owen shuddered slightly as he realized what the captain was thinking about. "Well, captain, I think you should be getting to your tea-boy."

Jack nodded in agreement and turned.

"I'll be here looking at this blood. Should keep me occupied for a couple of hours."

"And if you are still bored, you could always feed the pets." replied Jack.

"I don't think I could be that bored," Owen said, cringing at the thought. Despite being undead, he still tried to find all sorts of ways to get out of physical labor or menial work.

"Well, good night then, Owen Harper," Jack said. As he turned away, his eyes showed, for an instant, the sadness and regret that he felt for the young doctor's fate. He added, in a whisper that nobody else could here. "And I'm sorry."

* * *

><p><em>Good? Bad? Needs Work? Sorry, I'm just kind of out of practice with this story, I need to get back into it. Please Review.<em>


	18. Times Are Changing

_**A/N:** Look, I know that I said I would try to be more vigilant, but it just isn't working. I'm still having difficulty with keeping this plot going, so much that I've had to throw in a few of my own twists. I've also got another story that I'm working on, and honestly, I'm finding myself more inclined to write it, only because I have more material. With that said, you can expect more updates, but I can't promise you any consistency with them. I am really sorry, and I will try to rekindle my passion for this story._

_**Disclaimer:** The rights to the characters in Torchwood and Maximum Ride do not belong to me, but to BBC and James Patterson respectively. I don't make any money from this._

_**Chapter 18: **Times are Changing_

Max knocked on the Captain's door. After having an extremely relaxing sleep and some food, followed by a long discussion with the Flock, she had finally decided to talk with Jack about some of the things he had asked of her on their way back from Germany. The door slowly swung open at her touch, and so she walked in, already beginning to speak.

"So I was thinking about what you said earlier, and I think-" she trailed off as she faced an empty office.

"Jack?" she called. "Hey, Jack?"

A grinding noise caught her attention as the manhole on the floor opened up and out popped the tousled and sleepy head of Ianto Jones.

"Ianto!" she smiled, nodding in greeting. "Where's Jack?"

"Good morning to you too," grumbled the Welshman. "Is he not in the Hub?"

"No, I mean, he always seems to be up here, especially this early." Max replied.

"Yeah, that is strange," replied Ianto, climbing out of Jack's bedroom in a pair of sweats and an old t-shirt. "He usually tries to wake me up every morning for-" Ianto caught himself before he spoke further, and blushed at the slip of the tongue.

Max rolled her eyes and carried on. "Well, I need to talk to him. I'll go search the Hub."

She stuck her head out the door. "Hey! Doctor Harper!" she called to Owen, who was at that moment staring very intently at his computer.

"Yes, what is it this time," he sighed, looking up at Max. "I'm actually doing something rather important right now."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll let you get back to your game of online poker, but first, tell me, do you know where the Captain is?"

"Haven't seen a sign of him since last night," replied Owen. "I've been in the morgue the past hour, so I wouldn't have seen anything. Isn't he up there with the teaboy, getting it on? I know that those two go at it like rabbits after there's been a particularly dangerous case."

"Funny, Owen," commented Ianto. "At least I can get it on, so shut it." Ianto replied crankily. "Don't think that I've forgotten about the whipping cream. There is nothing I won't say. And, anyway, Max, I found this note on his desk." Ianto held out the ripped sheet of paper with the messy scrawl of the Captain.

_Gone out to deal with the School. Will be back before the end of the day._

_XOXO_

_Jack_

"Hmmm," Max sounded. "I think the hugs&kisses were for you."

Ianto only rolled his eyes.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

"I demand an explanation!" shrilled the Director. She had been forced to change into the hideous orange jumpsuit that the U.N.I.T. soldiers had provided her, and Jack could say with certainty that orange was really not her color.

"Has she been like this since she got here?" he asked, turning to Martha as they both viewed her from behind the one-sided glass.

"Oh, it was hell getting her blood drawn. And don't even start on getting that thing," Martha gestured towards the jumpsuit, "on her. She was absolutely horrid about it. You could hear her screams down the hall. And you would think we were torturing her."

"Well, you obviously weren't. That's reserved for a room with no cameras," Jack said grimly. "Though, let me know when you do start. I'd be happy to help."

"You don't mean that!" exclaimed Martha. She may have worked for U.N.I.T., but that didn't mean that she had to agree with all of their practices. And she certainly didn't want Jack to be showing interest in them.

"You're right," Jack sighed. "That person is long gone, but he does occasionally make an appearance. So, what's the story with her blood?"

"It's quite amazing, actually!" exclaimed Martha. "When I ran the tests on it, DNA showed not to be 100% human. There was, in fact, almost 5% tortoise in it. Galapagos tortoise to be specific."

"She doesn't show any reptile qualities," Jack said. "Though it would explain her longevity."

"Yeah, she said herself she was 107 years old. Which I personally find hard-wait," Martha trailed off. "How did you know about that. I hadn't told anyone about that. In fact, I was planning on you being the first person to know, seeing that I knew Owen would love to examine it himself."

Jack sighed once more. "I guess I might tell you now. The Director and I, we had a past. Marian Janssen. I met her after World War II, after Estelle and I had split. She was German, but moved from there shortly after the start of World War II. But she had been raised with a strong nationality towards it, specifically, with ties to the Hitler Youth. Her father was one of the generals in the Nazi Party and, well, she had basically been raised to take Hitler's word as gospel. Of course, after the defeat of the Germans, and the execution of her father, they went into hiding in Britain. Marian got sent to some relatives who had moved into Britain simply because of a job opportunity and she settled with them. Her mother moved back to Germany and Marian never heard from her again. When I met her, in 1945, she seemed fine. A distinguished young lady of 25, she seemed lovely. I was looking for a way to forget Estelle, and she helped me do that. But then I realized that things were off. She always talked about how the weak ones caused her family to split up. How the Nazi generals could have won the war, if only they had had better instincts. She talked about how Hitler was right about the ultimate, superior race, but how it couldn't be just human, because that was too weak. But I didn't really care, because she was helping dull the pain, so I went along with the ideas. Then, one day, she followed me to work, saw the aliens that I was dealing with. I had to retcon her, it was protocol, but she begged me not to. I don't know what I saw in her, too much Estelle, maybe, but I didn't retcon her. I told her that it was for her own good that we never saw each other again, and she agreed with me. Looking back now, I can see that was a mistake. The aliens must have sparked her interest in science, and bringing her ideas to life. I mean, if aliens were real, then who was to say the recombinant DNA couldn't be?"

"You can't blame yourself for what she did," said Martha. "You weren't the cause of her actions. It was how she was raised. You are a good man, Jack, you have to know that."

Jack looked at Martha, tears sparkling in his eyes.

"How can I not feel guilty? She was basically responsible for the whole operation. The creation of hundreds of children who lived a meager life span and then died painfully, all while being treated like lab rats. You're saying that this isn't my fault?"

"Jack, there was nothing you could have done," said Martha. "I truly believe that there wasn't"

The immortal captain looked at Martha as thoughts ran through his head. "I want to talk to her." he said decisevly.

"I don't think that's a good idea," cautioned Martha.

"Please," said Jack. "I need to know why."

Martha sighed. "Alright, I guess. You have five minutes."

Jack nodded. "Thank you."

Marian jumped as the door opened. "Thank goodness. Someone's finally here. I trust you have my lawyer."

"You're not getting a lawyer," said Jack, as he turned around to face her.

"It's you!" she exclaimed. "From the gas chamber! Wait, what do you mean, I'm not getting a lawyer? I'm entitled!"

"Not when you're planning a world terrorist attack. We have proof of your By-Half-Plan, not to mention all those hybrids you tortured and killed. That kind of crime is punished by those above the government."

"This is outrageous!" exclaimed the Director. "I have the right to a trial!"

"You gave up your rights when you planned a mass genocide of half this earth. Didn't what happened to your father teach you anything about this sort of thing!"

"How do you know about my father?" she demanded.

Jack looked at her intently, his face switching from angry to sad. "You really don't remember me?"

She peered intently at his face, as recognition began to dawn. "You're not-that's impossible-it can't be you..."

"It is," Jack nodded.

"Jack? But you haven't aged a day!" she exclaimed. "How is that possible. What kind of animal did you use?"

"I didn't perform genetic experiments on myself!" exclaimed the captain. "And what happened to me does not concern you. I am here to talk about you."

"You rejected me," the Director looked at him. "You left me alone and unwanted. I thought I meant something, and you played with those feelings."

Jack put his face in his hands. "I know, and I shouldn't have. You were a replacement for someone, and I'm sorry that you had to go through what you did."

"I really was trying, you know," she said. "To build the perfect race."

"Yes, but at what cost?" Jack nearly cried out. "You killed innocent children. You tortured them and made them live a life that was far too painful."

"All in the name of a Utopia," she muttered.

"Is that what you think?" he exclaimed. "A perfect world? How perfect is a world built on the blood of billions?"

"You don't understand," she said.

"You're right, I don't! I don't understand how you could do that. Even think about doing that!"

"I had them put in this world, I could take them out!" she cried.

"That's where you're wrong," said Jack. "You can make a person, but that doesn't mean that they belong to you. Once you create that life, you leave it entirely in their hands. You don't control it like a puppet master. You don't make them dance. They're children for Christ's sake!"

"They're are nothing but genetic experiments for the betterment of the human race. They were going to be the foundation, nothing more, nothing less."

Jack looked at her, contempt clear on his face. "You disgust me. I really thought that you were better than this. I had heard all the talk, back in the 50s, but I never imagined it would come to anything. I thought you cared. I thought you were human." He stood. "We won't be seeing each other again."

"Fine," shouted Marian. "Go. Leave me like you did before! I always knew you were too much of a coward to amount to anything! This work wasn't just for me, it was for us!"

Jack slammed the door before he had to hear anything else coming from her mouth.

Martha stood outside, a concerned look on her face.

"You're not going to pull a Tosh with this one, are you?" she asked.

"She's not worth it," Jack said bitterly, as he turned and headed towards the exit the the U.N.I.T. prison facility. Then, right before he left, he turned to Martha. "And she's lying, she's only 87."

* * *

><p><em>So, was it worth a review? If not, I understand. I'm truly sorry for this wait. Though if any of you out there support Jack and Ianto and hate the ending of Children of Earth, come check out my new story, a retelling of the series four Miracle Day with a very special character addition.<em>


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